Edgy and Elegant
by BehindGrayEyes
Summary: This is the sequel to Pretty and Perfect. Follow twins Christa and Rory as they struggle through family, friends, college and life. Together they can get through anything.
1. Author Note

**Author's Note! **

**Hello, my avid and amazing readers! **

**This is the sequel to my story Pretty and Perfect. **

**Thank you all for your reviews, follows and favourites. I hope you continue to enjoy Christa's story through season 6 of Gilmore Girls. **

**(This is also a sequel to Mischa's story Sugar and Spice.) **

**Any dialogue used in the show isn't owned by me. **

**- BehindGrayEyes x**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**Some little things you need to know before you continue reading:**

**1) I decided to leave out episode one of season six because it takes place directly following the season five final and Christa was on her way to New York. **

**2) I'm pretending that there was a two month gap from the ending the Pretty and Perfect. Mainly so that Christa can re-join the commotion in Stars Hollow. So, she would have finished her internship with Patricia DeRossi. **

**3) Christa is back at home with living with Lorelai while Colin is on vacation with Logan, Finn and Harrison. (Don't worry all you Colin and Christa fans. They're still together.)**

**- BehindGrayEyes x**

* * *

**Fight Face:**

Late one night, Mom and I were standing out the front of the Twickham House, looking up at the huge building. On the night that Mom had proposed to Luke, he informed her that he had tried to buy the house for their future family and now Mom was absolutely in love with the house.

"It's big." Mom stated as she linked her arm with mine.

"That's what she said." I joked with a smirk on my lips.

"Good one." She said with chuckle.

"Hey, I'm still twelve."

"I meant the house. It's very big."

"Very sweet of Luke to have that dream of his. You two living in this house!" I said to her with a smile.

"What do you think there are? Twelve rooms?"

"At least! I mean you can really go to town in this place. You could have a dedicated sewing room. I mean, that's a no-brainer." I said excitedly, not moving my gaze from the house in front of us.

"Are you kidding? I could put a whole loom in one of those rooms. Indulge my long harboured desire to make tapestries."

"You've been long harbouring that one?" I asked her sceptically as I raised an eyebrow at her. I turned away from the house to smile at her and she turned to face me as well.

"I just thought of it, but yeah!"

"So it's all feeling good, huh?"

"Well it's a little on the Versailles side. I mean I have to keep an eye out for peasants with pitchforks."

"I meant the relationship. You're engaged for Gosh sakes!" I said happily, placing my hand on her arm.

"Yes! I'm aware!"

"And sticking?"

"Yes, Christa, it's sticking!" Mom said playfully, but I could hear the slight offended tone underneath.

"Good, good!... How 'bout now?"

"I'm totally re-evaluating the whole thing." Mom stated drily.

"Really?"

"NO!" Mom said exasperated with the question.

"Well...You've got priors!" I defended myself as I held up my hands in defence. I was talking about Mom previous engagement to my twin sister's English teacher at Chilton, Max Medina.

"Christa!"

"You say one thing, but your heart says another."

"Please! Don't give me the whole litany. Especially one that sounds so much like a Kenny Chesney song."

"I'm just being honest."

"I'm not going to bolt. I'm staying put." Mom said determinedly.

"Good. Because the eyes will give you away." I told her knowingly and she turned to look at me weirdly.

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"If you're thinking of bolting they'll pop out on you, like that runway bride. It's like the eyes are trying to run away first." I explained to her, making gestures with my hands to show her.

"Christa, look at my eyes." Mom requested and I leaned forward to look straight in her eyes as she widened them and tried not to blink.

"OK..." I said slowly as I looked for any sighs of panic.

"How do they look?"

"Pretty socked in there."

"And there they will remain. Everything's good. Promise." Mom said with a smile as she blinked her eyes rapidly.

"Good. Pretty eyes too." I complimented her with a smirk, knowing that I had her eyes.

"I'm taken." She joked and pretended to look apologetic.

"Sorry!" I said as I held up my hands in surrender.

"WOW!" Mom exclaimed as she turned back to look at the Twickham House.

"What?" I asked in concern as I looked around the yard for what had alarmed her.

"Is it me or..." she trailed off and I frowned at her. I followed her gaze to look back up at the house and let out a gasp.

"Nope! I think it just got bigger." I confirmed with a nod of my head.

"That's what she said." Mom joked and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Good God."

"What!? You can be twelve, but I can't be twelve?"

"No...You can be twelve."

"Thank you." Mom said in satisfaction and then she linked her arm back through mine as we just stared up at the house.

* * *

I walked into Mom's house where I was staying for the rest of the summer and smiled at the familiarity of it. Living with my Dad for my childhood, we moved around lot but Mom's house in Stars Hollow had always being here for me to come home to. Ever since I had gotten home from New York mom and I hadn't spoken a word of Rory. It was just a subject we stayed the hell away from. I knew how mom felt about it and she knew how I felt about it. Luckily, at the moment at least we were on the same page. I knew that mom hadn't had any contact with Rory since she had decided to live at Emily and Richard's house. I had asked Colin, Logan and Finn to keep an eye for her. I also asked Steph, Rosemary and Juliet to watch out for her because I knew how the boys got when they were drinking and knew that they would most likely forget.

"Hey, Mom, are you here?" I asked in a yelled as I came in the front door.

"Come in, come in, come in! I want to show you something." Mom said as she came running from inside the house to meet me at the door.

"OK." I said warily.

"Or...more accurately, I want to show you someone." Mom corrected herself with giggle. She grabbed my hand and I frowned in confusion as she led me into the living room. I frowned again when I saw that it was full of things for a dog. "Ta-da! Where'd he go?"

"Where'd who go? What's all this stuff?" I asked her in confusion as I gesture to the things littering the floor.

"Aww! Yoo-hoo! Come on, dude. We had it all rehearsed and everything. Ah! Aha! Ha ha. Yeah. Okay." Mom said to the empty room but then she smiled brightly as she looked behind an armchair. She bent down and returned with an armful of shaggy dog. "Ta-da!"

"It's a dog." I stated dumbly as I tilted my head to look at it.

"Yeah! Very good." She said to me and then turned to the dog and spoke in a funny voice. "She's smart, too. Not as smart as you." She cooed at the dog before carrying him to the coffee table and setting him down on it, making me raise an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing with a dog?"

"I bought him. Doesn't he look happy?"

"Yeah, I guess." I said in disbelieve. "You bought a dog!"

"Yeah, and he loves me. And he doesn't give his love easily. The only drawback is the name. Cocoa. It's too cutesy. But he's a rescue, so I don't want to freak him out by giving him a new name right away, so, I'm gonna get to the name I want to give him in baby steps. For the first week, I'll call him Cocoa to get him acclimated."

"Acclimated." I repeated after her.

"Second week, I'm gonna call him Cokey. Third week "Kooky". Fourth week "Tooky"."

"So, you're gonna name him Tooky?"

"No. I'm gonna name him Paul Anka, but it's gonna take a while to get to Paul Anka." Mom explained with a shrug.

"Yeah, I'd say so."

"And, you know, this little guy has already taught me something I didn't know! Just because they make it for a dog doesn't mean a dog is gonna like it. Toys, including squeakies sad the "whazzup" variety. No interest. Rawhide bones: no interest. Popcorn: scared of it."

"Scared of popcorn?" I asked in amusement.

"Yeah, and also of tissue holders, paperbacks, CDs, framed pictures, and lint. Oh! And when I drink something, he gets freaked out like I'm gonna die, and I have to pick him up and rock him like a baby until he calms down. It's been quite a first day for us." Mom listed all the things the dog was afraid of and I blinked at the shaggy creature in front of me.

"Look, should I ask the question that immediately came to mind when I first saw the thing, or should I just shut up?" I asked her pointedly.

"No. Shoot." Mom said with a smile.

"Is it okay for you to..." I started to ask hesitantly.

"...That hamster was defective. Period. Plus, they only live like three years, I looked it up. And...and...and he would have been dead by now anyway. So, world, stop with the hamster already." Mom said defensively.

"But the turtle..."

"The same thing with the turtle." Mom said, cutting me off again.

"Yeah, but they live to be 90. What about the rabbit?"

"Okay, the rabbit was sick when I got it. It was sick when I got it! It was actually very humanitarian of me to take it in the first place. I will take care of this dog. I promise." Mom assuredly me sceptically but as I opened my mouth to answer her someone knocked on the front door. "Come in!" Mom called out to the visitor and two seconds later Luke entered the living room. He froze when he saw Paul Anka sitting on the coffee table.

"Do I want to know?" he asked the room.

"No." I told him matter-of-factly and he nodded in understanding. Mom just rolled her eyes at us and continued petting her new dog.

"I got a dog." She explained brightly to her fiancé.

"Are sure you are meant to have a…?" Luke started to ask her sceptically, knowing that she was not the most animal friendly person.

"Yes! I'm sure." She interrupted him pointedly. "Now, do you want a beer?" she asked him as she stood up.

"Sure." He answered with a shrug, letting the issue of the dog go for now.

"OK. Just distract him while I'm drinking. And don't let him see the bottle opener." She said in a whisper as we all walked into the kitchen, leaving the dog alone in the living room.

"It's afraid of the bottle opener too?" I asked her incredulously as I followed her and Luke. Mom walked over to the fridge to get the beer while I sat at the table and looked at all the dog stuff that was in the kitchen as well.

"Its name is Paul Anka." Mom reminded me and I just rolled my eyes at her.

"How much did you spend on all this?" I asked her as I gestured to the dog stuff.

"Tons." She said as she got three beers out of the fridge and handed us each one.

"For a stupid dog." Luke stated with a shake of his head.

"You're acting like you don't like dogs."

"I don't like dogs."

"Shh! He heard you." Mom hissed as the dog in question walked into the kitchen.

"He speaks English?" I asked her sarcastically as I sipped my beer.

"Since when do you not like dogs?" Mom asked Luke, ignoring my comment.

"Since all the times I made that really, really clear, which is every time I've ever been around a dog." Luke answered her.

"What is there not to like about dogs?" Mom asked him with a frown as he sat down at the table next to me and Mom pulled some dog food into a bowl for Paul Anka.

"They're dirty, they're a pain to train, they're a pain to wash, they bark when they shouldn't, they jump on you when you don't want them to, they chew things, they shed, they lick themselves, they make your house smell, they make your car smell, and they make you smell."

"You know I think it's very sad that you've lost the little boy in you." Mom said with a sigh as she sat down at the table with us.

"The little boy didn't like dogs, either."

"Oh! You know. I just realized what this is. This is our thing."

"What thing?" I asked her with an amused smile.

"This tradition of ours. You claim to hate everything at first, but it's just your initial stance in a negotiation. And then we talk, and our opinions merge, and we find a happy middle."

"No. A lot of times, it's just how I feel, and my mind doesn't change." Luke told her as I watched to dot trot over to his food bowl and sniff it.

"OK, oh! He's eating. Come on, let's go!" Mom said as she watched the dog as well. She got up from the table and gesture off Luke and I to follow her. "But don't make any sudden movements, and don't drink and don't look at him. He's very self-conscious about his eating. I'm the same way. That's how I know this is gonna work! Go! Go, go, go!" Mom ordered us and we all exited out the back door. we were now outside and staring at the dog eat through the window.

"You do realize your dog has just driven us out of the house?" I asked her drily.

"Don't worry. He's a quick eater. Come on." Mom said as she started walking over to the porch. I followed the newly engaged couple around to the front of the house where Mom sunk down onto the couch that was out there. Luke copied her actions and I leaned up against the pillar near the steps with my arms crossed over my chest. "Okay. Now, fill me in. How was your day?" Mom asked Luke as she got comfortable.

"Well, I talked to some contractors about the Twickham House." He replied and Mom smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah?"

"As soon as we make the offer, they'll let us in. We can start planning stuff. Remodelling, whatever."

"Good."

"And as soon as we're out of escrow, we can start work."

"Cool. Excellent."

"I was thinking we could even pull the crew over here. Do some quick touch-ups before selling." Luke suggested and I raised my eyebrows and took a sip of my beer as I watched in interest.

"Wait. Touch-ups? Where? Here?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah. It hasn't been painted in a while. Fixing it up will help it sell."

"Right. You know, I've been thinking?" Mom started to say to him.

"What?"

"Maybe...we should...hang on to this house."

"To rent?"

"No! Not to rent. To use...in some other way."

"What other way?"

"Uh...I don't know. we...It could be, like, a paint studio." Mom suggested and I muffled a laugh because as I thought about Mom painting.

"Neither of you don't paint." I reminded her gently.

"Well, maybe we'll start. Maybe it's the lack of a studio that's kept us from realizing our love of watercolours."

"You don't have a love of watercolours."

"Or I could use it as my recording studio. That would be cool, huh? And when I'm not laying down tracks, I could rent it out to Korn or Iggy Pop or someone. Right? You and me, just hanging with Iggy Pop, rocking out, telling stories. Ig's got stories!"

"Uh-huh." I said knowingly as realisation dawned on me.

"Or we could use it as a safe house, in case we decide to take up a life of crime." Mom continued and then looked through the window. I followed her gaze and saw Paul Anka lying down on the staircase.

"I doubt we're going to do that." Luke said to her.

"Well, we could be wrongly accused of a crime we did not commit. And then we'd have to hide out until society realized the mistake, and then we'd be like, 'Hey, no hard feelings. It happens. This is a great country, and thank god we had the safe house.'"

"If you want, we can just hang on to it and rent it out." Luke suggested, still oblivious to what was going through Mom's mind.

"I don't want anyone else living in it." Mom protested.

"They can't live in it, but they can record songs in it?"

"I just think we could use this place. Think about it, OK?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll think about it."

"OK." Mom said as she nodded at him with a smile. Mom looked back into the window and gasped at what she saw. "Oh, look, he's done. And he's in there fast asleep."

"Great! Let's go back in." I said as I stood up straight off the pillar.

"OK. Just be careful because he gets scared when you wake him up."

"Of course." Luke said with an eye roll.

"OK." Mom said as she stood up and Luke followed her. we all started heading back into the house. "Oh, and try not to say any words that begin with the letter "Q"."

* * *

Mom and I climbed out of her Jeep at the same time but Mom turned back to look into the car.

"Come on, boy. Jump out." She said to the dog that was in the backseat of the Jeep. Paul Anka jumped out of the car by the front door as I watched him as I walked around to stand next to Mom. "Good boy. Not afraid of jumping. That's something." Mom complimented the dog and I snorted in amusement. We all started walking towards the house but I froze in surprise when I saw a man standing on the roof of the house, directly outside Mom's window.

"Uh, excuse me." I called out to him and Mom followed my gaze to the stranger on the roof.

"Hello." The man said to us casually.

"Hello. I'm Lorelai, the owner of the house you're standing on and this is my daughter, Christa." Mom introduced us and I waved slightly at the man.

"I'm George."

"Hi, George. I'm just trying to think of how to ask this in a polite way. Um, are you committing some sort of crime?" I asked him nervously.

"No."

"But if you were, would you tell us?" Mom asked him but before he could answer another man walked out onto the porch, coming from inside the house.

"Hello." I greeted the new man in surprise.

"Howdy." He said to us with a smile.

"Fight or flight? Fight or flight?" Mom mumbled to me under her breath and I smiled a little even though I was freaking out internally.

"Hey!" Luke called from up on the roof next to George.

"Luke!" Mom and I called out in relief when we saw him up on the roof with the strange man.

"This is George."

"Oh, we've met." Mom told him.

"And I'm Saul." The man standing on the porch introduced himself.

"Hi, Saul." Mom and I said in unison.

"Get what you need?" Luke asked George.

"Just about. Saul, you get what you need?" George questioned the other man while Mom and I watched in confusion.

"Just about." The other guy, Saul answered him.

"Wow. I was this close to screaming and siccing the dog on you." Mom commented and then turned to point at Paul Anka who was now in the Jeep with the door closed. I gaped at him in amazement as I followed her gaze to the dog.

"How did it get the door closed?" I asked no one in particular.

"We're just about done." Luke assured us from upstairs.

"What...Done with what?" Mom asked her fiancé.

"Sizing the situation."

"What situation?"

"About how many silent joists we need to carry out."

"What's a joist?"

"The things that support the load."

"What load?"

"The load from the extension."

"Okay, this has officially become the worst first draft of "Who's on first?" in history." I said to them to stop the ongoing conversation.

"It's about enlarging the bedroom. To live here." Luke explained to us.

"Here? You wanna live here?" Mom asked him.

"Sure. I don't have a lot of stuff. We just need a little more closet space. A bigger bathroom, bigger bedroom."

"I always wanted a bigger bedroom." Mom told him with smile and I bit me lips to stop the grin that was about to break cross my lips.

"Well, looks like we can do it."

"But what about the Twickham House?" I asked him with a smile.

"Too damn big. We can get along fine here for a while. Maybe forever. It's a great house. You love this house." Luke said to Mom.

"I do love this house." Mom agreed with him as I wrapped an arm around her waist in a half hug.

"I know. I figured that out from your sudden interest in laying down tracks and becoming a painter."

"Come down here so I can kiss you. All of you." Mom joked coyly and Luke smiled down at her.

"We'll just be a minute." Luke told her and then Mom turned to me and squealed in happiness. I laughed at her excitement and gave her a hug. Mom and I walked back over to the car to get the dog. Mom went to open the door but then stopped and looked at him incredulously.

"You locked the door? Dude, come on! I mean, I've got the key, but I'm really curious how you did this." Mom said to him and I started laughing so hard I had to lean against the side of the Jeep.

* * *

I climbed out of my car happily, holding the shopping bags that I had just got from the boutique. I saw Mom and Luke standing in front of the house and I walked up to them curiously. As I got closer to them I realised that there was a giant hole in the side of the house and you could see right into Mom's bedroom from the front of the house. I continued over to Mom and Luke, not taking my eyes off the hole as if it would disappear if I looked away from it.

"Hole!" I heard Mom say to Luke in disbelief.

"Hole?" I asked questioningly as I came and stood next to them.

"I know it's a hole. How did it happen?" Luke asked and I just tilted my head in confusion.

"Dirt!" Mom spat out.

"What?"

"Dirt, bed! Dirt, hole!"

"OK, speak in sentences, come on. You...you found this when you got home."

"Yes, a big hole!"

"It was sledgehammered."

"With a very big sledgehammer." I quipped as I looked at the giant hole.

"God, who would..." Luke started to say but then trailed from so I looked at him in concern and saw realisation cross over his face. "Oh, my god."

"What?" Mom and I asked at the same time.

"Him." Luke declared angrily and Mom and I both frowned in confusion.

"Who?" Mom asked him.

"Him." Luke repeated himself.

"What him?" I asked this time.

"Kill." He hissed venomously.

"Kill who?"

"TJ!"

"TJ did this?" Mom asked him in surprise. TJ was Luke's brother-in-law and didn't have a reason to be destroying our house with a sledgehammer.

"Who else?!"

"What do you mean, "Who else"? Why would TJ come over to my house and sledgehammer my bedroom?" Mom asked him desperately.

"Damn it, Liz!" Luke swore at his sister.

"What did Liz do?" I asked him.

"Ah, she worked me over. She begged me to hire TJ as the contractor on the remodel."

"TJ's a contractor?" Mom asked sceptically.

"No, and I said "No"! But she made me promise to think about it. And then she sat in the diner staring at me, and then she started to cry, so I kicked her out. And then she went outside and cried and so I could see it through the window. And I couldn't take it anymore, so I said, "OK", knowing we had weeks to figure out how to get out of it. And no work could be done 'cause George hadn't made up the plans. And, in the meantime, TJ could've changed occupations or injured himself bouncing up and down on his trampoline and backed out of the job."

"But how could you risk saying "OK" to anything with TJ?"

"Did I mention the crying? Liz is a walking tear duct. Oh, TJ's good! You never see what's coming. Like a big, dumb tsunami. He's that good!"

"So, what do we do?"

"I'm gonna talk to TJ, but I'm gonna be smart about it, I'm not gonna spook him. I'm gonna be like Michael Corleone dealing with that slimy brother-in-law of his. Get a couple of tickets to a ball game, invite him along. And we'll talk about the beer and the hot dogs we're gonna eat. And then I'm gonna get him to admit that he did this. And then when we get in the car on the way to the ball park, I'm gonna put a rope around his neck and pull it till he's dead!" Luke suggested angrily and I smirked in amusement at the visual description.

"Wait, Wait! You're in the backseat?" Mom asked him.

"Yeah! That's the best for garrotting. Yes!"

"No, he's gonna smell something fishy if you hop in the backseat especially if you're driving."

"No, he's not that bright. It'll work!" he argued but then another question came to my mind.

"Why are you even buying the tickets? You could just sneak up on him and garrotte him on the street. Save you the money." I said to him with shrug.

"I can still go to the game the other way! I'll take my friend Ed. He hasn't been to a game in ages."

"Yeah, you're in no state to deal with TJ right now." Mom said to him with a small smile.

"Maybe not." Luke agreed with her reluctantly.

"And we need to do something about the fact that my bedroom is on display for all to see."

"I know."

"So, let's figure out what we need to deal with the hole. First things first."

"You're right. We need tarp." Luke told us as we all started heading towards the front door. "And some plywood. Staple gun. And rope."

"You're not garrotting TJ." I told him sternly as we climbed the front steps.

"Skip the rope."

* * *

I was in the kitchen reading a novel and drinking a coffee one morning when Mom's dog came trotting into the kitchen. When I heard him I turned to look at him in distaste. I grimaced at him as he jumped up onto the chair next to me at the table. He turned his shaggy head to look at me and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't think you supposed to be on the seat." I told him but he just continued to stare at me. I sipped my coffee and then jumped when the dog started barking at me. "Mom!" I called out loudly so that I could be heard over the barking of the dog and I heard mother's footsteps rushing down the stairs.

"What is it? What's going on?" Mom cried as she rushed into the kitchen where I was cringing away from the dog as it barked at me furiously.

"It won't stop barking at me!"

"Well, what did you do?" she asked me curiously as she patted him soothingly and he stopped barking at her touch.

"Nothing!"

"Oh, did you drinking coffee?" she asked me knowingly.

"Yeah…" I answered, drawing the word out questioningly.

"Well, there you go! He doesn't like it when people drink in front of him."

"Why not?" I asked as I looked back at the now quiet dog.

"I have absolutely no idea. He also hates it when people eat toast in front of him."

"Toast?"

"Yeah." Mom said brightly. "I don't know why. He's fine with everything else."

"Your dog is weird." I told him as I stood up from my seat and walked over to put my coffee cup in the sink.

"He's unique." She argued with me and I sent her I smirk over my shoulder. There was a knock at the front door then and Mom shot to her feet as the dog started barking loudly again. Mom started walking out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with the dog.

"What? He afraid that there's a murder at the door? Trust me. He should be more worried about me killing him!" I called out to her as she walked away to answer the door. I didn't want to be let alone with the dog so I quickly followed her, sending the dog one last grimace as I left the room. When I got closer to the door, I heard a familiar voice talking to Mom and I grin spread across my face. I picked up speed as I practically ran to the front door.

"Do you know that there's a giant hole in the front of your house?" the visitor asked Mom jokingly but Mom didn't get a chance to answer before I had reached the front door and flung myself at him.

"Colin!" I squealed happily in surprise because he was supposed to be in Europe with Logan, Finn and Harrison for another two weeks.

"Hi, babe." He said to me as he left me up into his arms and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I heard Mom chuckled behind us but I was too focused on the man in front of me to be too embarrassed. Not that I would have been anyway. I was smiling brightly as I pulled away to look at him. His own smile matched mine and I pulled his head closer to kiss him passionately right there on the porch.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him after I had pulled away from the kiss. "You supposed to be in Europe."

"I got bored." He explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You got bored of Europe?" I asked him sceptically with an eyebrow quirked at him.

"It's no good without you there."

"Aww.." I said as I pulled him closer for another kiss. Someone cleared their throat behind us and we reluctantly pulled away from each other. Colin set me down on my feet and we both looked over at my mother, who was standing in the doorway looking amused.

"Didn't you two get enough of that this summer in New York?" she asked coyly and I rolled my eyes at her as I grabbed Colin's hand and lead him into the house.

"No." we both answered her the same time and Mom just chuckled at us. Three of us went into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"And that is why we decided to move in together this year." I told her with a smile and she just smiled back at me.

"It's so exciting." She said as she bounced up and down in her seat. "So, where are you going to live?"

"There's a penthouse apartment in a building my father owns near Yale. It's ours for the taking if we want it. I just need Teek to go over and approve of it before I tell him." Colin answered for us and I leaned into his side.

"You can just sign off on it. I'm sure it's great." I told him as I kissed him lightly on the lips. He smiled sweetly at me before I turned back to Mom with an excited smile. "And now we get to the fun part. Shopping."

"Ah! Yes!" Mom cried happily as she clapped her hands together.


	3. Chapter 2

**Always a Godmother, Never a God: **

Colin and I were sitting on the couch together in our new apartment. I was wearing only his t-shirt and he was wrapped in a comforter from our bedroom. Mom and I had spent a week shopping, picking out all the furniture and detailing it to Colin and my taste. He pressed a kiss to my temple as I smiled into his chest. We had only just moved into the penthouse apartment and were christening every room in our new home. I sighed as I stood up from my comfortable position on the couch. I put my arms above my head and stretched as Colin watched me lovingly. I smirked down at him and he just smiled back at me.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"I'm getting some Gatorade. We still have rooms to christen." I said slyly with a smirk and he chuckled at me but nodded in agreement.

"You should probably get me one too then."

"Coming right up." I said with a wink as I walked over to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade for us to share. I sauntered back over to the couch and sat down next to Colin with a sigh. I handed him the bottle and kissed his lips softly.

"Thank you." He said as he opened the bottle and took a sip before handing it to me.

"You're welcome." I said as I took a sip and then put the bottle on the coffee table. I pulled my leg up under me and grabbed the edge of the comforter that was covering Colin and used it to cover me as well. "I missed this." I admitted to my boyfriend softly.

"Me too." He agreed as he pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder.

"Oh, so you, Logan, and Finn didn't do a lot of cuddling in Europe?" I teased him with a smirk.

"Nah, mostly just hand-holding."

"So is there any official record of this trip, or was all evidence confiscated at the airport?" I asked him, only half joking.

"I got pictures." He told me with a chuckle and I perked up.

"Yeah? Can I see?" I begged him as I bounced up and down a little in anticipation.

"Hand me that." He said as he pointed to his bag that was near the side of the couch. I immediately reached down and grabbed the bag to hand to him. "Now, you realize if I show you mine, you have to show me yours." He said as he grabbed his cell phone out of the bag that I handed him.

"You saw mine about five minutes ago, mister." I joked with smirk.

"Oh, I hate it when you work blue." He teased me and I laughed at him as he fiddled with his phone. He held it up for me to see and I leaned in close to get a good look at it. "Okay. Here's Harrison sleeping on the train."

"Uh huh..."

"And here's Finn shoving carrot sticks up Harrison's nose as Harrison sleeps on the train."

"Very mature." I said with giggle.

"We try. This is Gloucestershire, England..."

"It's pretty."

"...where we attended the famous Gloucestershire Cheese-Rolling festival, a time-honoured tradition where brave men, such as myself, climb to the top of a hill with a large wheel of cheese, and then proceed push it and run after it as it rolls all the way down."

"Shut up. Why would you commit that to film?" I asked as I laughed at him. I took the phone off of him and continue to look through the photos.

"That's me, that's Logan, that's Finn, and that is the cheese." Colin said as he pointed to the photo.

"So if you beat your cheese to the bottom of the hill, are you disqualified, or do you win?" I asked him curiously.

"There are no winners or losers in the Gloucestershire Cheese-Rolling festival."

"Well there certainly aren't any winners."

"Tell me about it. Logan hurt his finger. He had to have it bandaged."

"Who's that?" I asked him curiously about the blonde in one of the photos.

"Ah! Now that's the love of Harrison's life.

"Harrison fell in love?" I asked sceptically as I looked at the photo with wide eyes.

"Yeah. He met her in Holland and she doesn't speak a word of English, so she has no idea how incredibly annoying she finds him." Colin clarified with a chuckle as he looked over my shoulder at the phone in my hand.

"What's with the outfit?"

"She's a milkmaid."

"Stop!" I demanded with a laugh.

"She has cows. She has pails."

"Harrison fell in love with a milkmaid?" I asked again in amusement, needing clarification that this was the case.

"It's pretty serious, too. He ditched us and followed her to Amsterdam, where they've been hold up ever since. We haven't heard a word from him. I mean we assume he's gonna be back by the time school starts." He said with a laugh and I giggled with him. I sighed in contentment and leaned back into his chest. He wrapped an arm around me waist and kissed my cheek.

* * *

I was sitting at the kitchen table reading and drinking a coffee when my cell phone rang from the counter top.

"Yellow?" I answered it without checking the caller ID on the screen.

"Blue!" the person on the other end exclaimed and then started giggling uncontrollably. I laughed along with them when I recognised the voice on the other end.

"Hi, Sookie. How are you?" I asked my Mom's best friend.

"Hi, muffin! I just wanted to ask your opinion on something." Sookie told me and I could hear the excitement in her voice.

"Okay, shoot." I said as I sipped my coffee.

"So, you know how your Mom and Luke won't set a date for the wedding until Lorelai and Rory make up? Well, I thought that I could use Davey and Martha's christening to bring them back together. I know that it's a long shot but I have to try, right? I mean, I found a vintage cake topper that looks exactly like Luke! Exactly! Especially the butt. And I won't be able to use it on a wedding cake if they don't set a date. And they won't set a date until your Mom makes up with Rory!" Sookie ranted without taking a breath. The mention of my twin sister Rory sent a pang through my heart.

"Wow! Okay. That sounds good, Sookie. How are you going to get them both there?"

"I'm going to ask Lorelai to be Martha's godmother and Rory to be Davey's." she explained giddily.

"Awesome. Just tell me when and where." I said to her with a smile.

"Ah! Yay! I'm so excited now."

"Me too." I agreed with a laugh because her excitement was contagious.

"Alright, I'm going to let you go, Christa. I'll message you the details for the christening."

"Sure. Bye, Sookie." I said before I hang up the phone. I put the cell phone down on the table and turned my attention back to the novel I was reading. My gaze went back to phone as I debated with myself whether or not to call Rory. Gathering the courage, I took a deep breath and picked up the phone and dialled the number from memory. The line was ringing and I bit my lip nervously because I had no idea what I was going to say to Rory.

"We're sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in serv..." the monotone voice of the operator answered the call after eight rings. I frowned into the phone in confusion and then realised I must have dialled the wrong number by mistake. I hung up the phone and looked through my contacts so that I knew it was correct. I pressed on Rory's name and held the phone up to my ear again.

"We're sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you've reached this number in..." the same monotone operator said as they answered the call. I quickly hung up the phone and looked at it in disbelief. I put the phone down on the table as if it was on fire before standing up and heading straight for the kitchen to get more coffee and chocolate. I poured more coffee into my empty cup and drank it in one go. I shook myself mentally and decided not to let Rory get me down. I plastered a fake smile on my face even though no one was there to see it and headed to the table to get my phone. I pocketed it and grabbed my bag on my way out the door.

* * *

I came into the apartment balancing my shopping bags in my hands as I turned the key in the door. As I entered I heard laughter and music coming from the living and smiled at the sound of my friends and boyfriend. I walked further into the apartment and saw Colin and Logan sitting on the couch with Harrison on an armchair next to them. Finn was talking on the phone, pacing the length of the room in frustration.

"So, cancel with him, darling, is that so difficult?" Finn asked the person on the phone and I chuckled at my Australian friend as I walked passed. He gave me a smile and wave when he noticed me and smiled back because I couldn't wave with my arms full. "I find the fact that you love him completely irrelevant."

"What's going on?" I asked Colin as I walked over to the couch.

"Hey, how was your day?" he asked me brightly when he turned and saw me standing there.

"It was good. Just let me put my bag in the bedroom and I'll join you guys." I told him as I walked towards our bedroom.

"I'll get you a drink!" Colin called after me and I smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you, babe!" I called back as I dropped the shopping bags onto the bed and sighed in relief as the heavy bags went away. I walked back out to the living room, where the boys were. I smiled at Colin as he handed me a drink of scotch and I sat down on the arm of the couch. I sipped my drink as he placed his hand on my thigh lovingly.

"Hi." He said to me as he reached out to pull me into a kiss.

"Hi." I replied as I kissed him soundly in front of everyone, ignoring that jeering from the boys.

"Hey, Teek." Logan greeted as he saluted me with his scotch glass.

"Christa!" Harrison said to me in greeting and I smiled at the two of them warmly.

"Hey, Logan, Harrison, I didn't know you guys were coming over."

"I invited them over. I hope that's cool." Colin said to me and I smiled at him reassuringly.

"Oh, yeah, of course it's cool."

"Somebody give me a sonnet. Melissa's a poetry major." Finn said to us from the behind the couch.

"There once was a gal from Nantucket." Harrison started and I giggled at him.

"Stop it, Harrison. I'm not trying to propose." Finn snapped at him before turning back to the phone. "Melissa...do you miss me, darling?" he said seductively and I rolled my eyes at him. I frowned in confusion as I noticed a blonde girl coming from the kitchen and approaching the group.

"Hi." I said warily to the girl but just stared blankly. "Uh, Colin?"

"Yeah, Teek?" he asked as he turned his attention away from his conversation with Logan to me.

"Who's the skirt?"

"Ah. That is Harrison's milkmaid." He told me gleefully and my mouth opened automatically.

"He brought her back from Holland?"

"Yes, he did." Harrison answered me solemnly.

"Oh. Hi. I'm Christa. I've heard a lot about you." I introduced myself to the blonde from where I sat.

"She doesn't understand English." Colin pointed out in amusement and chuckled at his friend.

"Oh. Sorry." I said to the blonde but she just stared at me blankly.

"Yes, aren't we all." Harrison murmured into his glass but I heard him.

"Harrison, rude!" I scolded him in amusement.

"Everywhere I go, everything I do, surprise!, there she is."

"Well, you brought her here. What did you expect?"

"I don't know what happened. When we were in the Netherlands, she seemed so amazing, you know? But the minute we left, she began to lose her appeal." He explained to me in exhaustion.

"Well everything looks appealing when you're stumbling out of an Amsterdam coffee bar." I teased him with a giggle.

"Tell me about it. One night I spent half an hour hitting on a bike." Finn added to the conversation before turning back to the phone in his hand. "Maria! You're the only one that can save me."

"Christa, you have to understand. Milkmaids are, like, iconic over there. They're practically Dutch superheroes. Dating Katrinka was like dating Wonder Woman." Harrison told me.

"Katrinka." I repeated in amusement as I smothered a laugh at the unfortunate name.

"Yeah. He's gonna be hearing about that one for a long time." Colin laughed at his friend.

"Oh...I see. Well, just so you know, I think you're an awfully sweet girl to date a guy with such an unfortunate skin condition." Finn said into the phone before hanging it up in frustration. "Christa?" he asked me as he turned to face me.

"Hmm?" I asked him as I turned my head to look at him.

"Any chance you're breaking up with Colin in the next 20 minutes?" he asked me hopefully and Colin turned to glare at him,

"Ooh, I would but then where would I live?" I teased as I laid a hand on Colin shoulder in reassurance that I was only joking.

"Damn." He swore out loud as he turned back to the phone and started dialling another number. "Veronica! Finn. Still engaged, darling? Well, I am, too, but I'm not going to say in what." He said into the phone and I giggled slightly as Colin rubbed his thumb on my thigh possessively. I noticed Katrinka go up to where Harrison was sitting and hug him lovingly. I bumped Colin's shoulder to get his attention and when I had it I nodded my head towards Harrison and his milkmaid. He smirked at the sight of them and shook his head.

"You two make such a cute couple." I teased with a grin Harrison and Logan and Colin laughed while Harrison scowled at me.

"Hey, let's get something to eat. I'm starving." Logan suggested to the group.

"Yes." Harrison agreed quickly and jumped up from his seat to get away from Katrinka. "Chinese food. No dairy in Chinese food."

"Perfect. General Lee's has that adorable waitress with a very tiny intellect. Let's go." Finn exclaimed gleefully.

"General Lee's?" Colin asked me.

"General Lee's." I agreed with a smile as I stood up from the arm of the chair. Everyone then stood up except for Katrinka.

"I've got shotgun." Finn said as he headed towards the front door of the apartment.

"No, you don't. You're driving." Logan told him as he followed his Australian friend out the door. Harrison and Colin went with them while I walked over to turn the music off at the stereo.

"I can reach over to steer." I heard Finn say from down the hall. I turned back around and noticed that Katrinka was still sitting on the couch alone.

"Uh, Harrison?! You forgot your milkmaid!" I called out after the boys. I didn't hear any reply so I rolled my eyes and grabbed the blonde girl's wrist. I dragged her out of the apartment with me, locking the door behind me as I did so. "You can't just leave random girls in our apartment!" I scolded him as I followed them towards the elevator.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock blaring in my ear. I groaned out loud as I rolled over to hit the snooze button on the top of the clock. Colin made a sound of protest as I moved because his arm was draped over my waist and my move knocked him.

"Go back to sleep." He mumbled sleepily to me and I looked over at him tiredly.

"I have to go to the baptism." I told him as I laid back down a closed my eyes for a minute.

"Blow it off."

"I can't."

"You can do anything. You just have to believe in yourself. Did we learn nothing from "Mad Hot Ballroom"?"

"I have to go to Stars Hollow. I have to see Rory." I whined as I covered my head with a pillow and groaned into it.

"One, two, cha cha cha." Colin said tiredly as he rolled on to his back. I took the pillow off of my head and looked over at him in amusement. He smiled up at me as I sat up and stretched my arm above my head and yawned.

"Uuugh, okay." I said reluctantly as I climbed out of the bed. "Nothing left to do but get up and face the music." I concluded as I walked over to the closet and picked out the two dresses I had chosen the night before. One was green and one was blue and I wasn't sure which one to wear so I held them up for Colin to see. "Which one goes better with a baby?"

"I like the green one." He told me sleepily as he sat up in our bed and looked at the choices I was giving him.

"It's not too sheer? Because I'm gonna be in a church."

"You can go into a church?" he teased me playfully and I mock gasped at him. "Looks good from here." He said honestly and I nodded as I held it up to my body to look in the full length mirror on the inside of the closet.

"Yeah, maybe." I agreed as I looked at it. I smiled as I saw Colin come up behind me in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned into him. He pressed a kiss to the side of my neck and met my eyes in the mirror.

"Did you want me to come with you today?" he offered and I smiled at his thoughtfulness but shook my head.

"No, it's okay. Besides, you have classes today." I reminded him.

"Are you sure?" he asked me and I smiled at me before turning around in his arms. I liked my hands behind his neck and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

"I'm sure." I said to him before kissing him again. He smiled against my lips and walked us backwards together until we fell on to the bed. I giggled as he kissed down my neck and I straddled him on the bed. I laughed as he ripped off the t-shirt I slept in and moaned in pleasure as he kissed down my cleavage towards my stomach. I ran my hands down his already bare chest, pressing my nails in lightly as I did so. Colin groaned and switched our position so that I was on bottom and he was on the top. I giggled as he peppered kisses all over me and then kissed him fully on the lips passionately.

* * *

Later that morning, I was walking towards the church where the baptism was taking place and accidently ran into Kirk.

"You look nice today, Kirk." I complimented him with a grin.

"Thanks! This is the suit they buried my dad in." he told me as he smoothed his lapel.

"Oh, well...I think I'm gonna let that one go."

"So, do you know which is the Davey side of church and which is the Martha?"

"Oh, I don't think there are sides, Kirk. It's not like a wedding. I think we're all on both kids' sides."

"I just didn't want to offend by taking a side if there are sides. I've had some contact with Davey, in passing. Couple of high-fives, one or two peekaboo sessions, but I haven't had much contact with Martha. She seems more reserved. Elusive. There's a bit of Garbo in her." he explained to me and just nodded in amusement.

"Go with your heart, Kirk." I said to him and he nodded at me before walking away. I chuckled silently in amusement at the weirdness that was Stars Hollow. I looked up at the front of the church and noticed mom and Sookie chatting near the door. I smiled and made my way up to them.

"Hey, guys!" I said in greeting as I approached them and they turned to me with grins.

"Hi, sweets." Mom said to me as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, muffin." Sookie greeted me and gave me a kiss on the cheek as well. I sent her a wink when mom wasn't paying attention and she giggled a little.

"Pretty dress." I complimented mom as I checked out her dress for the occasion.

"Yeah, well, I'm meant to be a god." She joked and I just rolled my eyes at her. Just then walked up to us clearly upset about something.

"I just talked to my former mother, and, oh, you are going to love this. Guess who's getting baptized today?" he asked in exasperation.

"Who?" Sookie asked her husband cluelessly.

"Me."

"What?" Sookie and I asked at the same time as I tried to hold in giggles.

"No!" mom said in shock.

"Is it Christmas already?" Sookie asked happily as we all laughed at her husband's expense.

"This isn't funny." Jackson told us.

"Uh Huh!"

"You've never been baptized?" I asked him in amusement.

"Apparently on the day I was supposed to be baptized, I stuck a quarter up my nose and had to be taken to the hospital. And they never rescheduled." He explained to us.

"Well, organizational skills were never your family's strong point." Sookie pointed out.

"You know what? I have had it with my family! I want you to march right over there and tell my mother you're divorcing me if I get baptized."

"Oh, yeah, that will go over very well."

"Okay, fine. Then just say we're getting separated. I guess I better go find out what it means exactly for a grown man to get baptized."

"Oh, my God! Are you gonna wear a giant christening gown?" Sookie asked excitedly and I laughed out loud at him.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Jackson asked us and I nodded enthusiastically.

"Ooh, you have no idea." Sookie said gleefully and Jackson just shook his head at us and walked away. Sookie laughed once more and looked over my shoulder. "Oh, Rory's here!" she announced and I turned around so that I could see my twin sister approaching us.

"Yeah, I see that." Mom answered her emotionlessly.

"Boy, that's a pretty dress she's wearing, don't you think?"

"Sure. It'll go good with a baby." I responded to her with a small smile.

"Well, I better go check on the kids." Sookie said in a rush and I smirked in amusement at her attempt to run. "Say "hi" to Rory for me if you see her first." She ordered and then ran inside and away from mom. Rory came up to us and we all just stood awkwardly for a minute before Reverend Skinner came over to us to speak to mom and Rory.

"Oh, there you two are. Good. Do you have a minute? I was hoping we could have a quick chat in my office before the ceremony." He said to mom and Rory and I took that as my cue to leave. I smiled at them one last time and then ducked into the church. I was standing next to Sookie, talking about this plan of hers to get mom and Rory back on speaking terms with Davey in my arms. I saw Kirk enter the church and grimaced to myself as he approached me.

"So, are you a Davey or a Martha? Davey, I bet, right? He's much more accessible. He's the Dandy Warhols to Martha's Brian Jonestown massacre." He said and I just shook my head in amusement.

"Go sit down, Kirk." I ordered him and he left without another word to sit on one of the pews on the left side of the room. I frowned when I saw a man with a moustache and beard, wearing a white suit with a bolo tie sit down on the pew down from me. Mom, Rory and Reverend Skinner exited his office and came over to collect the babies. I handed Davey over to Rory when she reached me without a word.

"Hey, Rory. You look so pretty." Sookie complimented her as she walked passed.

"Hey, Sookie." Rory replied to her with a smile and I sat down on the front pew where Sookie had asked me to sit. Reverend Skinner walked over to the podium at the front of the room and cleared his throat for attention.

"Welcome, everybody. Jesus tells Nicodemus in the fourth gospel, "Unless one is born of water and spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God". Today we gather to honour three individuals as they dedicate themselves in the first sacrament of the faith and become members of the body of the church and the Kingdom of God. Here to bear witness and offer spiritual support are Lorelai Gilmore, godparent to Martha, Rory Gilmore, godparent to Davey, and, uh...Jackson?" the reverend said.

"Yo." Jackson answered from the front of the room where he was waiting to get baptised.

"Acting as your godparent will be...?"

"Oh, uh... my brother Bo, I guess."

"And, uh, Bo Belleville will serve as sponsor and witness for Jackson. Will you come up here, please, Bo?" Revered Skinner asked and the man in the white suit sitting down from me got up and walked over to stand next to Jackson.

"The candidates for baptism will now be presented." The reverend said as he walked down from the podium and stood in front of the six people standing at the front of the church. "We are honoured with the privilege of being here today to witness and support in faith the baptism of David Edward Belleville, Martha Janice-Lori-Ethan-Rupert-Glenda-Carson-Daisy-Danny Belleville, and Jackson Matthew Belleville. I hereby charge Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, and Bo Belleville with the responsibility of seeing to the spiritual welfare of these children and this believer. We will now begin a series of ceremonial questions. Lorelai Gilmore, do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces that rebel against God?" the reverend asked mom but mom didn't answer him right away. I frowned at her in confusion as the audience started murmuring behind me and the reverend raised an eyebrow at her.

"Lorelai!" Sookie hissed at her from her spot next to me.

"What?" mom asked her in confusion and I raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"Why aren't you renouncing Satan?" I asked her in a whisper.

"Huh?"

"He said, "Do you renounce Satan?", and you paused. That's not something you pause about." Sookie whispered to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, I renounce Satan." Mom said loudly so that everyone in the church could hear her.

"OK. Rory Gilmore, do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces that rebel against God?" Reverend Skinner asked Rory.

"Did you call Rory?" mom whispered to Sookie and I leaned forward so that I could hear their conversation.

"What?" Sookie asked quietly.

"Did you call Rory on her cell phone and ask her to be a godmother?" mom clarified.

"I renounce him." Rory said to the reverend.

"Bo Belleville, do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces that rebel against God?" Reverend Skinner asked Bo.

"What are you whispering about?" Rory whispered to mom and Sookie while the reverend was talking to Bo.

"I'm just trying to get some information." Mom dodged the question.

"What information?"

"Satan can kiss my ass." Bo declared to the reverend and I raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"How come Sookie had your phone number?" mom whispered quietly to Rory.

"What?" Rory asked her in confusion.

"She called you to ask you to be here, which means she must have had your phone number."

"Excuse me. Ladies?" the reverend asked them patiently.

"I'm sorry, Reverend. Can you just give us a moment, please?" mom asked him and then gestured for Rory to follow her outside.

"I'll be right back." I whispered to Sookie and she nodded to me as I got up to follow them out of the church. The three of us all walked out while mom and Rory still held Davey and Martha.

"What is wrong with you?" Rory asked mom once we were all outside the church.

"Look, it's not like I really care, okay? It's not like I was gonna call you up to chitchat or make a date to go shoe shopping, or something. But, shouldn't a mother have a way to contact her daughter, at least in case of an emergency? I mean what if I was in an accident and I had to have a blood transfusion? You're the only person in the world with the same blood type. It would really help to have your phone number." Mom told her, but even though she pretended to be casual, I knew that she was hurt. I was hurt as well because I didn't have her new number either. I crossed my arms over my chest to try and block out the pain.

"We are holding up the service." Rory said defiantly and I rolled my eyes at her.

"I just think it's weird you would give Sookie your number and not me."

"I wouldn't feel too bad, mom. She didn't give me her new number either and I'm her twin sister." I said to her while glaring at Rory.

"I didn't give Sookie my new number. Sookie called Grandma, Grandma left me a note, and then I called Sookie back. And I didn't get a new number. I lost my phone." Rory informed us defensibly.

"If you lose your phone, you should suspend your service until you get a new one. That way, you get to keep the same number. Ever hear of that? It's ridiculous to get an entirely new number. No one gets an entirely new number." I ranted at her, shaking my head in the process.

"Well, next time, I will suspend my service." Rory snapped at me just before the door next to us opened and Sookie appeared.

"Um...Hi, guys. We kind of need the kids back." Sookie said as she took Davey from mom's arms.

"OK." We all said to her as we followed her back into the church to watch the kids get baptised. After the baptism, I was wandering around the post-baptism party being held outside the church when I noticed Rory walking up to me. I gave her a half-hearted wave as she approached me and she gave me a small smile in return.

"So, I'm leaving." She announced to me as she got closer.

"OK. Drive safe." I replied with a small smile.

"Look, I know this is lame at this point, but you can have my new number if you want it."

"I probably should. You know, just in case mom eats too many pop tarts and they need to pump her stomach." I joked and she chuckled a little at my comment. I pulled my phone out of my bag and handed it over to her so that she could program her number into it.

"How's Colin?" she asked me as she tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

"He's good. Didn't you see him the other day?" I asked her with a smirk.

"Yeah, I did." She nodded slowly and I realised that she was just trying to prolong the conversation so I smiled inwardly.

"We're living together now. In a penthouse apartment."

"Wow! Is it nice?"

"Of course it's nice." I said to her with a scoff. "It's a penthouse apartment."

"Yeah, well, congratulations." She said softly and I nodded with a smile.

"I should probably go." I said reluctantly and she nodded in agreement. I turned around and started walking back towards where I parked my car. At the last moment, I spun back around to face Rory, who was walking in the opposite direction. "Rory!"

"Yeah?" she called out to me as she turned around to face me.

"I miss you." I admitted and then turned around and left before she could reply to me.


	4. Chapter 3

**We've Got Magic To Do:**

"Hey! Get out of bed, you lazy ass!" I called out to Colin from the kitchen. I was in the middle of making pancakes, listening to loud music while Colin lay in bed with a hangover after going out with the boys last night. I heard a low groan come from bedroom and I smiled to myself as I flipped the last pancake onto the plate. "I'm making pancakes!" I called out to him in order to entice him out of the room. I heard the shuffling of feet as I walked over to the dining table with the plate of pancakes. Colin came out of bed looking very hung over and I smiled at him in sympathy. He walked over to the table slowly and sunk down onto a vacant seat with a groan. I walked back over to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee for each of us as he got himself some pancakes off the plate in the middle of the table. I brought the coffee over to him silently and pressed a kiss to the top of his head as I placed the cup in front of him. He smiled up at him tiredly as he ate some of the pancakes I had made.

"These are great." He complimented my cooking through a mouthful of food, making me grin and laugh at me as I got my own pancakes.

"Thank you." I said as I started eating my pancakes. We both ate our pancakes in a comfortable silence for a while. "Besides getting over a massive hangover, what are you doing today?" I asked him as I ate a piece of pancake.

"Hmm. I'm not sure yet. What about you? What are your plans?" Colin asked me and I shrugged before answering.

"I'm going to a charity luncheon with Amanda."

"Oh, God. Really? I'm sorry." He apologised to me and I just chuckled at me as I shook my head.

"I like Amanda and so do you."

"I do like Amanda but I also know that you hate society events."

"Trust me that is the least of my problems with this luncheon." I told him honestly as I finished the last of my pancakes and picked up my coffee cup.

"Why? What's going on?" he asked me concern as he grabbed hold of my hand comfortingly.

"It's nothing. It's just that this is a DNR charity luncheon so that means that Emily will be there and now that Rory is a member so will she. Actually, I got a call from Vivian Kensington and she told me that Rory is the one organising the event." I informed him in one breath and he chuckled lightly at my ranting abilities.

"You don't have to go." Colin reminded me calmly and I gave him a look and rolled my eyes. I let go of his hand as I stood up from the table and picked up my now empty plate and cup.

"Boys." I muttered to myself as I walked away into the kitchen.

* * *

I was just climbing into my car so that I could drive over to Colin's parents' house where I was meeting Amanda when my cell phone started ringing. I sighed as I collapsed onto my driver's seat and pulled my phone out of my purse.

"Hello?" I answered the phone on the forth ring.

"Luke's acting weird." My mother said in greeting and I frowned in confusion as I closed the door with one hand.

"How so?" I asked in concern as I balanced the phone between my ear and shoulder so that I could check my make up in the overhead mirror.

"He wants to go to Miss Patty's annual recital with me." mom stated sadly and I faux gasped into the phone.

"Mommy, is Luke gonna die?" I mocked her in a child-like voice.

"Ha-ha. Seriously, what do you think is going on?"

"Nothing is going on, mom. It's a new relationship. He just likes spending time with you."

"Yes, well, who wouldn't?" Mom asked rhetorically and I chuckled into the phone.

"You and Luke just have to find a balance. You each need to do your own thing and you feel that Luke moving in on your territory."

"My territory?"

"Miss Patty's. All the town events were things that you did on your own before you were with Luke so subconsciously you feel threatened that Luke is poaching your thing." I explained to her with a shrug that she couldn't see.

"Hmm. Maybe." Mom agreed slowly and I smiled at her doubtfulness. "How is it that you've only been in one relationship in all your 20 years but you're still more insightful then me?"

"You should know by now that I'm good at everything I do." I replied smugly with a smirk as I turned the key in the ignition on and music filled the car. I turned down the radio so that it wasn't so loud.

"Where are you?" mom asked me when she heard the music playing.

"I just got in the car. I'm going to a DNR charity luncheon with Colin's current stepmother."

"Why did you say 'current' stepmother?"

"Because he has had like five of them and he will have more. Andrew can't stick with a decision to save his life." I told her with a laugh. "Alright, I have to go. I'll call you later to bitch about the society nimrods."

"I'll look forward to that." Mom said with a laugh.

"Bye, mom. I love you."

"Love you too, babe." Mom said and then hung up the phone. I hung up my cell phone and put it back in my purse. I turned back up the radio and put the car in reverse as I sung along with the radio.

* * *

I walked into Wafford Hall with Amanda and her friends but I wasn't paying attention to the conversation as I was too busy looking around the room for any signs of Rory or our grandparents. My gaze shot over to Amanda as I felt someone touch my arm lightly.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked me in concern and I smiled back at her reassuringly.

"I'm fine. I was just seeing if I could catch a glance of Rory. I have the feeling she's going to be dressing up in a costume and I wouldn't want to miss the chance at blackmail material." I joked lightly making the women around us chuckled at me.

"I think she's over there." Amanda told me as she pointed somewhere over my shoulder. I followed her finger over to where she pointed and saw my sister running into a room in a hurry. By the quick I got at her face, I could swear that she looked panicked.

"I'll be right back." I informed the group and then left without a backwards glance. I hurried over to the door that Rory went through and paused when I entered the kitchen. I looked around for her but couldn't see her anywhere. I continued through the noisy room as I looked for her. I got to the back of the kitchen and saw a door so I went through it. I came to a long hallway and saw Rory was crouched down in the middle of the narrow hall. I rushed towards her and heard her panicked breathing. "Rory?" I asked tentatively as I crouched down next to her.

"Christa?!" she asked as she looked over at me with wide eyes.

"You're white as a sheet."

"I'm having trouble...breathing." she said through gasping breaths.

"You're having a panic attack." I said in realisation.

"I think so."

"Don't worry. Steph has these all the time." I admitted to her as I rubbed soothing circles on her back to calm her down.

"What do I do?"

"Well, it depends. There are different kinds. Does it feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest?"

"No."

"Does your chest feel like an overinflated balloon with a slow leak?"

"Um...Not really."

"Sharp needles, intermittently poking into your left ventricle?"

"I don't know about ventricles, but there is a needle thing."

"You need Diazepam. 50...no, 100 milligrams. I'll get my purse." I told her as I started to stand up from my crouch.

"No, wait. I don't want any Diazepam." Rory said as she shook her head at me and I crouched back down next to her.

"Well, what do you want? Fluoxetine, Protriptyline? I have others floating around the bottom of my purse. I have no idea what they are, but just popping a few can't hurt. Pretty hot grab bag." I joked with her but she didn't even crack a smile.

"These people...Those people, they didn't even RSVP. That's not right. This is for our boys. They need to make a donation." Rory ranted and I nodded along even though I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

"Tough night for you, huh?"

"Shira's one thing. I can deal with her. But Mitchum? I can't see him. I can't face him. It's too much. After what he did, what he said to me." she said and her voice broke at the end of sentence. I felt my eyes widen at the mention of the Huntzberger's. I hadn't spoken to Mitchum since the night of Honor's engagement party and I hadn't spoken to Shira since before even that.

"The Huntzberger's are here?" I asked her in outrage and Rory nodded sadly. I balled my fist into in anger because I didn't want them anywhere near Rory. I wrapped my arms around here and she leaned into my embrace. I took a couple of slow deep breaths to calm myself down as I stroked my sister's back. I pulled from her and gave her a bright smile that she managed to reciprocate. I glanced down at her outfit from World War II and smirked at her. "You look pretty."

"Shut up." She said as she laughed watery and gave me a light shove away from her. I grabbed her hand as I laughed and pulled her and myself up from the floor. I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"You are going to go into that room, and you are going to act like the perfect host. You going to make Emily Post and Emily Gilmore both proud, okay?" I asked her with a teasing smile and she smiled back at me with gratitude.

"I can do that." She confirmed with a nod of her head.

"Good girl." I told her seriously as I linked her arm through mine and started towards the doorway at the end of the hallway. We walked together through the kitchen towards the main hall of the Wafford. We paused in front of the door and looked at it in nervousness.

"I have to get back to work." Rory said to me reluctantly, not turning from the door.

"I have to get back to drinking."

"Probably shouldn't mix the two."

"It would make it more fun." I told her with shrug of my shoulders and smirked at her as she smiled at me in amusement. Rory sighed once more and I turned serious as I turned to her. "Come find me if you need me, okay? I might need a break from the society women anyway. All they do is ask me when Colin and I here getting married. 'Oh, Christa, you would look dashing in white. Oh, Christa, what about Martha's Vineyard for a wedding?'" I mocked in a posh voice, making Rory laughed at me. "I swear they are worse than Emily."

"Oh, God." Rory groaned in sympathy and I sighed at the door again.

"We should go." I said reluctantly and Rory nodded in agreement. "Into the lion's den we go." I muttered to myself as I pushed open the door.

* * *

An hour later, I was sitting with Amanda and a group of her friends at our table just talking and laughing as I tried to direct the conversation away from Colin and me.

"Emily!" one of the women at the table, Jeanette exclaimed happily at someone over my shoulder so I turned to see my grandmother walking over to us.

"Hello, everyone." Emily greeted us all as she stepped up to the table's edge in between me and Amanda. Everyone said their 'hello's' to her as I smiled politely at Emily because we were out in public. I was still kind of angry that she and Richard had agreed to help Mom get Rory back into Yale and then just did a 360 on the decision. "I need to borrow Christa if that's alright." Emily said to them but directed her question to me.

"Sure." I answered her as I stood up to follow her. I was confused as to why she wanted to talk to me but I was also intrigued. Emily led me over to an empty corner and placed a hand on my arm. I glanced down at her hand with a frown and then looked back up into her eyes.

"I believe you and your mother." Emily said quickly and I raised an eyebrow at her confession. "Richard just told me that Mitchum Huntzberger admitted to him in the bathroom that he told Rory he doesn't think she has what it takes."

"Like mom told you." I pointed out to her and she actually looked ashamed at her behaviour so I softened a little. "What about it though?"

"I have an idea and I thought that you might want to help me." Emily said with an evil smirk on her lips and I smirked a little myself as I nodded. "Play along with me." she said to me before as turned and started taking menacing steps over to the table where Shira Huntzberger sat with a few of her friends. I cringed when I saw that they were at the Loser table near the band. I quickly followed Emily and I soon caught up to her. "Christa! Emily!" Shira greeted us warmly as we got closer. Emily and I both plastered warm smiles on out lips and walked the rest of the way over to her.

"Hi, Shira." I said to her with a fake smile as I kissed her lightly on the cheek in greeting.

"Hello, Shira." Emily greeted her with a kiss on the cheek as well. "We're here to rescue you. I've got a table for you and Mitchum right in the centre."

"Oh, bless you, Emily. I'm undeserving." Shira said to her with a fluttering of her eyelashes that made me want to roll my eyes at her.

"Nonsense. It was a terrible mistake, and it must be rectified."

"Aren't they amazing?" Shira asked as she nodded towards the band that was playing up on the stage.

"The whole combo is amazing. Follow me." Emily replied as I tried to control my temper. I still had no idea what Emily's plan was but the waiting was driving me crazy.

"Me, I love the Beatles. Mitchum took me to see Paul McCartney last year, and I almost died." Shira said and Emily and I both chuckled politely as Shira and her friends stood up from the table. Emily lightly took hold of Shira's arm as she directed them to their new table in the middle of the room.

"So Richard tells me we have a little problem."

"Really? With what?"

"With the kids. Logan, Rory. I understand you're not exactly thrilled with the match, that you let that be known to Rory at the dinner she had at your house." Emily said softly so that she wasn't overheard just as we reached the table.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say "not thrilled"."

"Then what would you say?"

"Oh, Emily, this is a party." Shira said with a light laugh as she sat down.

"I'm just curious." Emily said with tight smile.

"This may not be the time and place, Emily."

"Let's make it the time and place."

"You know, Logan called me that night and he described the night to me in detail. I can tell the story for you Shira, if you're having trouble remembering the night." I offered her politely as I stood on her other side and Emily shot me a proud smirk over Shira's head.

"Consider the discrepancies, Emily." Shira said to my grandmother, ignoring me.

"Well, that's what's confusing me. They both come from good families, both have good values. Money doesn't seem to be an issue. We all have money."

"Frankly, Emily, there's your money, and then there's our money." Shira said and I actually laughed a little, making Shira glare at me.

"Oh?"

"And our family has a lot of responsibilities that come with that. An image to maintain."

"Ah, yes! Well, let me tell you this, Shira. We are just as good as you are. You don't think Rory is good enough for your son, as if we don't know Logan's reputation. We do. But he is welcome in our home anytime, and you should extend the same courtesy to Rory." Emily said to her as she leaned down to speak directly in her ear.

"Emily..."

"Now let's talk about your money." I said to her as I bent down on Shira's other side so that I was speaking directly into her ear. "You were a two-bit gold digger, fresh off the bus from Hicksville when you met Mitchum at whatever bar you happened to stumble into. And what made Mitchum decide to choose you to marry amongst the pack of women he was bedding at the time, I'll never know. But hats off to you for bagging him."

"He's still a playboy, you know? Well, of course you know. That would explain why your weight goes up and down 30 pounds every other month." Emily added on her other side and Shira laughed uncomfortably.

"But that's your cross to bear. But these are ugly realities. No one needs to talk about them. Those kids are staying together for as long as they like. You won't stop them. Now, enjoy the event." I finished cheerfully as I straightened up and smirked at Emily over Shira's head. I turned and walked away back to Amanda's table. I sat down in my pervious sit and smiled at the women at the table.

"Everything okay?" Amanda asked me politely and I nodded at her.

"Everything's fine now." I replied to her question. The crowded started applauding and I looked up to see Rory walking out on to the stage.

"The Swing Dolls, everybody." She said as she gestured towards the band on stage and everyone clapped again. "I'm Rory Gilmore, the architect of this event." She said and everyone applauding again. "Thank you. And I'd like to take this moment to thank some others for the outstanding success this evening. To Lacey Boscombe, my right hand, my girl Friday, I could not have done it without you. To Glenda, Lance, the entire serving crew, thank you. To the kind people at KBC Audio who generously donated this amazing." Rory said with a smile and my own smile faded as I thought about how much she was meant to be at Yale and not planning DNR charity events.


	5. Chapter 5

**Twenty-One Is The Loneliest Number:**

I rolled over in my bed, blinking my eyes tiredly as I woke up from a dreamless sleep. I narrowed my eyes at the alarm clock on the bedside table and read that it was 4.03 in the morning. I heard the bedroom door open and I glanced over to see Madeleine Albright walk into the room. I smiled tiredly up at her as she walked over to the bed and kissed my forehead. Madeleine sat down next to me on the bed and I shuffled over to make room for her.

"Happy birthday, little girl." Madeleine said to me and I rolled over to hug her arm.

"Hey." I replied to her as she stroked my hair.

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

"Really? Feels slow." I countered with a frown.

"Trust me, it's fast. So, what do you think of your life so far?" she asked me and I smirked up at her.

"I think it's pretty good."

"Any complaints?"

"I'd like that whole humidity thing to go away." I quipped after a moment of thought and Madeleine chuckled at me.

"I'll work on that."

"So, do I look older?" I asked her brightly as I pose so she could get a good look at me.

"Oh, yeah. Walk into Denny's before five, you got yourself a discount." She joked and I laughed a little.

"Good deal."

"So, you know what I think?" Madeleine asked me as she changed the subject.

"What?"

"I think you're a great, cool kid and the best friend a girl could have."

"I already knew that but back at you." I responded to her as I pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"And it's so hard to believe that, at exactly this time many moons ago, I was lying in exactly the same position."

"Oh, boy, here we go." I exclaimed with a chuckle as I rolled my eyes.

"Only I had a fat stomach and huge ankles and I was swearing like a sailor..." Madeleine started to tell the story that I had heard so many times before.

" ...on leave." I filled in the blank with a smirk.

"On leave, right. And there I was..."

" ...in labour..."

" ...and while there's some who call it the most meaningful experience of their life..."

" ...you compare it to something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite." I finished with a huge grin.

"Right." Madeleine agreed with a laugh.

"I wonder if the Walton's ever did this." I wondered out loud but before she could answer the scene faded to black. I woke up startled with a gasp. I looked around the room and saw that I was in my bedroom and Colin was lying asleep next to me. I sighed in relief and put my hand to my heart to try and control its rapid beating. I realised that it must have been a dream. Colin stirred next to me and I glanced over at him. He blinked sleepily up at me and I gave him a small smile.

"What's going on?"

"I just had a dream that Madeleine Albright was my mother." I told him truthfully as I shook my head to clear it.

"Hmm." Colin nodded in understanding even though it would be impossible for him to know. He closed his eyes again and I chuckled at him before I followed his lead and laid my head down on his bare chest.

* * *

Colin and I were lying on our couch together kissing heatedly. We had been getting ready to go out to dinner but one kiss had led to more passionate making out.

"What time is our reservation?" I asked in between kisses and I giggled as Colin nibbled my ear before turning his head to look at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Now." He replied casually before going back to kissing my neck.

"Oh. It's amazing what happens when you can't find your keys." I joked as his hand went under my shirt.

"I think we should order in tonight." Colin suggested with a grin and I laughed at him but nodded in agreement. We continued to kiss passionately and in between kisses we had managed to get each other's clothing off. We somehow ended up on the floor next to the couch, wrapped up in one of the blankets that we kept in the living room. I was lying on Colin's chest with my eyes closed as he played with my hair aimlessly. "So, a 21st birthday. Big event." Colin said softly and I immediately stiffened a little.

"I guess." I said non-committedly. "I'm just not into birthdays."

"You're not into birthdays? You, who wore green head to toe on St. Patrick's Day and bunny ears on Easter?" Colin asked me incredulously as he pulled back a little to glance down at me but I just shrugged as I sat up, wrapping the blanket under my top half securely.

"I have stock in hallmark." I quipped as I looked away from him.

"What's up, Teek?" he asked in concern as he sat up next to me. I leaned so my back was against the couch and he joined me as he grabbed my hand and drew circles with his thumb.

"We should probably call the restaurant if we still want to try and eat there." I suggested to trying and change the subject.

"Teek." Colin said sternly and I knew that he wasn't going to let it go so I sighed and turned to face him.

"I'm just not excited about this particular birthday." I explained with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm turning 21."

"Yes...?" he said in drawing out the word in confusion.

"My Mom, Rory and I have been planning for our 21st birthday since, well, my first memory is kindergarten, but I have a feeling that Mom was talking about it before then. We had this whole big thing planned." I said hurriedly with a frown.

"Yeah...?" Colin asked with a slight smile. He knew that anything that Mom and I had planned together would be dangerous.

"We were gonna go to Atlantic City and sit at a blackjack table at 11:59, and we'd be playing 21 when we turned 21. We were gonna drink martinis and win money and go buy 21 things, and there was this thing including 21 guys that would be totally inappropriate now that I'm with you. But it was a pretty big thing, and...and now Mom and Rory are not talking, so it's not gonna happen. I'm just a little bummed. That's all."

"I know Rory misses your mom. The concept's a little hard for me to grasp, but I know she does. I also know that Logan is probably having this exact same conversation with Rory." he said with a smile and I chuckle as well.

"It's just that it's my birthday as well, you know? And all I want is for Mom and Rory to actually be in the same room but that's not going to happen." I replied sadly and he wrapped an arm around me so that I was leaning on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and I smiled sadly and happily at the same time.

* * *

I was walked into the apartment to next day when my cell phone rang in my handbag. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw Rory's name on the caller ID.

"Hello, twin sister. What can I help you with?" I greeted her cheerfully as I used my key to open the door.

"Hey, Christa. I just wanted to check in. I haven't really spoken to you since the DAR charity luncheon and I miss you." Rory replied over the phone and I chuckled lightly as I threw my purse on the table before heading into the kitchen.

"I miss you too. So, tell me what's been happening." I demanded as I opened the fridge and pulled out a block of chocolate. I headed over to the coffee maker on the bench that I had affectionately named Harvey.

"Well, last weekend Logan brought me a present." She told me excitedly as I leant on the bench and waited for Harvey brew me my coffee. I bit into my chocolate as I listened to Rory talk.

"Ooh! Exciting! What did he get you?"

"A Birkin Bag." Rory answered nonchalantly and I froze with the chocolate halfway to my mouth.

"He brought you a Birkin Bag?!" I demanded in shout. I couldn't believe that Logan had brought Rory one of the most wanted handbags available I still didn't have one. "Un-freaking-believable." I muttered to myself.

"Why? What's up with the bag?" Rory asked me and I just stood there horrified that she didn't know.

"They are only the most expensive, sort after hand bag in the world. Every girl wants one. They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but they're wrong. A Birkin Bag is."

"Wow. I didn't know it was such a big deal."

"I don't even have one yet." I said sadly as the coffee maker beeped at me to indicate that it was done. I walked over and grabbed a cup from the cupboard overhead. "Stupid Colin." I muttered under my breath as balanced the phone between my shoulder and ear so that I could pour my coffee.

"Why don't you just buy yourself one?" Rory asked me in confusion and I scoffed at her naivety.

"Because I'm not pathetic. A Birkin Bag isn't the kind of thing you buy yourself. If Colin asks you what to get me for my birthday, there's your answer." I told her sternly and walked over to the couch with my coffee and chocolate.

"You got it. Any particular colour?" Rory asked me mockingly.

"Blue or purple." I answered her honestly as I ignored her tone. "What colour's yours?" I asked her curiously as I tucked my legs up underneath me.

"Pink."

"Nice." I said approvingly as I sipped my coffee. "Anything else been going on?"

"Um," Rory said but then hesitated and I smirked as my interested peaked. "I told Logan I loved him." she admitted and I spat out the coffee I had just sipped. I started coughing but soon recovered.

"What?" I asked her dumbfounded.

"I told Logan that I loved him."

"For the record, that should have come up in conversation before that Birkin Bag. Saying 'I love you' to your boyfriend for the first time, a little higher on the priority list. Barely." I scolded her as I got comfortable on the couch again. "Okay, so what did Logan say?" I asked her excitedly.

"He didn't say anything. I told him he didn't have to. I mean, I know that he's not ready for that yet and you were there when Dean did that to me and I freaked out."

"That's true. Well, that was very kind of you." I told her with a smile she couldn't see. "Trust me when I say that what he needs is time. I used to be like Logan and it isn't something you can rush. I mean, look at his parents. It's kind of obvious he doesn't have very good role models."

"What's your excuse?" she said teasingly and I scoffed again as I rolled my eyes.

"Have you met Mom and Dad? Not exactly leading the way in stable relationships." I said to her, half serious and half joking.

"I suppose." She agreed with a laugh. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much really. School, designing Honor's bridesmaid dresses, dreaming of Madeleine Albright." I told her casual and then sipped my coffee.

"Madeleine Albright?" Rory asked in amusement. "I don't think I want to know. Grandma wanted me to ask you to dinner tomorrow night."

"Yeah, no." I replied as I bit into my chocolate.

"Please, do it for me. I haven't seen you in forever. Don't worry, the boys aren't invited."

"I wasn't worried about Colin, I'm worried about me." I told her with an unamused laugh.

"Come on." She begged and I groaned in defeat.

"Fine." I huffed and she sighed in relief through the phone line.

"Good. Thank you. Now, tell me about this Madeleine Albright dream." Rory demanded and I laughed at her.

* * *

I walked up to the front door of the Gilmore mansion with a grimace firmly plastered on my lips. I couldn't believe I had let Rory talk me into coming for dinner. I thought about just turning around and leaving but my relationship with Rory was already strained enough. I knocked on the door and waited impatiently. I frazzled maid answered the door after a minute and I smiled cheerfully at her because I knew the stress of being near my grandmother.

"Hello. I'm Christa, I'm here for dinner." I explained to the maid and she nodded jerkily and opened the door wider for me to come in. I handed her my coat when she asked for it and followed her into the parlour where Emily was making drinks.

"Oh, my god, it smells good in here." I exclaimed happily in greeting as I approached her. Emily's head jerked up and smiled at me.

"Well, I see someone got our dinner invitation." She said in greeting as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, I did, and thank you. It's been weeks since I've had anything that hasn't been supersized for dinner." I joked with her.

"Well, you've been so busy lately, I had to resort to pot roast and mashed potatoes to get you here." Emily scolded me playfully and I smiled at her because it was true that she had been asking me to dinner for a couple of weeks now.

"Pot roast and mashed potatoes?" I asked her to clarify excitedly because it was my favourite.

"With baby carrots, parker house rolls, and ice cream sundaes for dessert." Emily told me with a mischievous gleam in the eye.

"Wow. Am I dying?"

"Would you grab that bottle of wine?" she asked as she walked off into the dining room with two drink in her hand.

"Sure." I said with a shrug as I grabbed the bottle of wine and followed her. Emily and I entered the dining room and I saw that Rory and Richard were joined with a middle aged man at the table.

"Christa, how lovely that you could join us. Do you know the Reverend Boatwright?" Richard greeted me jollily from his seat.

"Uh, no." I answered in confusion as I gave him a kiss on the cheek on my way passed him.

"Oh, I can't believe that. Reverend Boatwright has been our minister for years. By now he's more of a friend than a minister." Emily said as she sat down at the head of the table.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Reverend Boatwright." I said to the man as I gave a Rory a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, too, Christa. I hear pot roast is your favourite, too." Reverend Boatwright said politely.

"Yes, it is." I said with a society polite smile.

"It's amazing. All the wonderful foods in this world, the greatest chefs with the most exotic ingredients, and yet this girl still wants pot roast. Roll, reverend?" Emily said with chuckle.

"Well, thank you. Don't mind if I do." Boatwright said as he took a roll from the basket. I glanced at Rory in confusion but she just shrugged her shoulders just as confused as me.

"Hmm. I wonder where that salad is. Will you excuse me? I'll be right back." Emily said abruptly and then stood up to walk out of the dining room.

"You know, Emily ordered some of that wonderful Irish butter. You haven't tasted rolls until you've had them with Irish butter. I'll be right back." Richard told us suddenly and then fled the dining room as well. I frowned at his retreating figure in confusion.

"And then there were three." Rory said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Your grandparents have told me a lot about you both." The reverend said to us and I raised an eyebrow at him as I reached for a roll.

"Oh, yeah?" I asked suspiciously.

"They're very proud of you both, you know."

"Well, then it's a mutual admiration society." Rory told him politely.

"You have a birthday coming up next week?"

"Twenty first." Me and my twin both answered at the same time.

"Must be wonderful being a young woman, just turning 21. The world is out there, just waiting to be conquered." He said with soft smile and I frowned in confusion again.

"I guess so." Rory answered him after glancing at me in uncomfortably but I just shrugged at her helplessly.

"I hear you both have boyfriends."

"Yes." I answered for both of us tightly.

"Ah, young love. It can be so exhilarating, so intense. All those feelings rushing around inside of you. I remember being young and having all those crazy feelings." He said and I smirked because I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"Oh, yeah?" Rory asked cautiously.

"Oh, yes. You know, Rory, Christa, being a young lady comes with many gifts. Your virtue, for example, is a gift, a precious gift. Possibly the most precious gift you possess." He continued with his preaching and I smiled slightly and looked down at my lap so that no one saw. I glanced out the corner of my eye and saw Rory looking off in the direction that Richard and Emily went off in.

"Uh-huh." Rory mumbled vaguely.

"You want to give this gift very carefully. It is a gift you can give to only one man. Once you give it, it's gone. You can't re-gift it. If you give it away too soon to the wrong man, then when the right one does come along, you have no gift to give. You'll have to buy him a sweater. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No." Rory admitted honestly in confusion and I just pressed my lips together tightly to keep from laughing at the uncomfortable look on her face.

"Think long and hard about when and to whom you want to give the ultimate gift you have to give away."

"Oh." Rory said in realisation and her eyes went wide.

"Yes." The reverend nodded knowingly and Rory looked panicked.

"Oh, dear." She muttered and I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud.

"Oh, dear, indeed."

"Um...well," Rory started to say and then chuckled awkwardly. "listen, Reverend. I really appreciate you taking the time out of what I assume is a busy day to come here and talk to me about...all of this, but, um, I'm afraid the ultimate-gift ship has sailed."

"What?" he asked in shock.

"A while ago. It's probably in Fiji by now." Rory admitted and I nodded in agreement.

"Mine's probably been around the world and back." I said to him, feeling a bad after that great speech he gave.

"Oh." Reverend Boatwright uttered dumbfounded.

"Yeah." Rory said with a slow deep nod.

"Well..."

"So, have you seen "The 40-year-old Virgin"? 'Cause you might like it." I told the reverend seriously and Rory pinched my arm disapprovingly.

After a very uncomfortable dinner, I had asked to speak to Emily privately so we had left Rory and Richard in the study talking about books while we stepped out onto the heated patio. Reverend Boatwright had left shortly after dinner.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Emily asked politely as we sat down on two of the vacant chairs.

"You and Grandpa lack subtly." I told her pointedly but she just looked at my confused so I rolled my eyes at her. "Really? You're going to play dumb with me? You invited a reverend to dinner, Grandma."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently so I decided to play along with her.

"Hmm. Did you know that when you and grandpa left the room, Reverend Boatwright tried to hit on me and Rory?" I asked her in mock-outrage as I placed my hand over my heart.

"Oh, he did not!" Emily protested with a chuckle and I laughed a little as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, he started going on about sex. So, unless there was another reason…." I trailed off and gave her a pointed look.

"Fine." She sighed defeated and I grinned at my wear down powers. "We may have asked him to speak to you and your sister about … physical relationships."

"It's not a dirty word, grandma." I said with a teasing grin. "Sex. Say it."

"No." she protested with an embarrassed chuckle as her cheeks turned bright red.

"Sex." I whispered teasingly as I leaned closer to her.

"Stop it." She said sternly to me and I held my hands up in surrender.

"Listen, I'm okay with you trying to warn me or protect me about sex. But I would prefer that if you want to know something, just ask me." I told her honestly and she smiled sheepishly at me but nodded her head.

"You're right, I apologise." She said sincerely and I nodded at her. "So…"

"I lost my virginity in high school to Colin. We're living together now, grandma, so we do have sex but we use protection and I know all the dangers of sex. You can't be a part of this family and not know that sex leads to unwanted pregnancy." I said to her with a small chuckle at the end and Emily smiled slightly as well.

"Thank you for being honest with me. You and Colin have been together a long time now, right?"

"Nearly a year now." I confirmed with a nod.

"Then, I'm happy for you." She told me as she patted me hand and I smiled at her thankfully. "So, we're throwing Rory a 21st birthday party here on your birthday and I was thinking we should make it a joint birthday party." Emily said excitedly and I frowned slightly as I thought about it. I wasn't going to be able to spend the day how I wanted which was with mom and Rory but I could at least spend the day with Rory.

"Sure, grandma, that sounds good." I agreed and she squealed happily as she clapped her hands together.

"All I need to know from you is your favourite cocktail. I would have asked Rory hers but she doesn't have much experience with alcohol. I can only assume that you are a little more informed." Emily stated with a smirk and I chuckled in agreement.

"Hmm. Yes, I am. My favourite are white chocolate martini's." I told her with a nod.

"Delicious." She approved with me and I smiled at her.

* * *

Colin and I walked into the Gilmore mansion on my 21st birthday and I frowned unhappily. Colin gave me a kiss on the kiss before leading me further into the house. He knew that this wasn't how I wanted to spend the day but I was going to try and make the best of it.

"Christa! Colin!" Emily called happily when she saw us. I faked a smile and walked over to her only to be engulfed in a hug.

"Hi, grandma. Great party." I complimented her in greeting.

"Oh, thank you. Happy birthday." She said to me as she looked me in the eye. I smiled gratefully at her and her attention was soon on Colin. "Oh, hello, Colin. You look dashing."

"Thank you, Emily. The house look lovely." He complimented her politely and she grinned happily. Rory and came up from behind Emily and we all greeted each other happily.

"Have you tried your drink?" Emily asked Rory suddenly.

"My what?" Rory asked in confusion. Emily snapped her fingers and a waiter came over with a tray full of martini glasses. Half the glasses were full of a bright pink liquid and the other half was full of white chocolate martinis.

"Your signature drink." She explained as she took a pink drink off the tray and offered it to Rory. I grabbed one of the white drinks and smiled gratefully at the waiter. "I had the bartender concoct it for you. It's called "Rory". It's got champagne, vodka, pineapple juice, and grenadine. The white ones are white chocolate martinis. Christa's favourite. Have one a Rory! You're old enough now."

"Maybe later. Empty stomach." Rory declined with a shake of her head.

"Well, there's plenty to eat, so that can be remedied."

"Where's Grandpa?" I asked her when I realised that he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"He'll be here soon." Emily assured us and I smiled then I saw Logan walking up to our group.

"Well, there they are. The three loveliest ladies in the room. Well, four if you count Colin." Logan greeted us with a smirk and Colin scowled at his best friend while Rory and I giggled.

"Hello, Logan. I have to check on your cake." Emily said to him coldly before walking away from us. Colin and I stifled chuckles because we knew why she was acting like that.

"Huh. Is it me or could the penguins march through here?" Logan asked as he looked at each of us and Colin and I tried to remain looking innocent.

"She's probably mad because she found out we're having sex." Rory answered him bluntly and I giggled at the expression on Logan's face.

"She what?"

"She found out you're having sex." I repeated for him helpfully.

"How the hell did she find that out?" he asked Rory and she just shrugged her shoulders.

"I told her minister." Rory answered him.

"But-but why would you do that?"

"Because he was going on and on about my virtue being a gift. And now you have it, so I'm gonna have to buy the next guy a sweater. I just wanted him to stop."

"And all this without a drink in my hand."

"Come on. Let's get you a "Rory"." I told him and we all made our way over to the bar.

"Why isn't she all over Colin?" Logan asked me.

"Because we live together." I answered him with a shrug.

"Oh, dealing with this family is stressful." Logan groaned and I nodded in agreement.

"Oh!" Rory exclaimed with a chuckle. "Tell me about it. And once you've had that drink, I can tell you how I've been moved out of the pool house and into a room right next to my grandparents. So from now on, we'll have to have sex in our invisible suits.

"Two Rory's, a white chocolate martini and a scotch, please." I told the bartender politely.

"Does your grandfather know, also?" Logan asked us and I nodded at him.

"Oh, yeah." Rory said.

"Make it four Rory's" Logan told the bartender and I smirked at him as I leaned into Colin's embrace.

"Rory! Christa!" I heard Lane cry from behind me so I turned and smiled at her and Zach as they came closer to us.

"You came!" Rory said excitedly as she hugged her best friend.

"Of course I came. I wouldn't miss your 21st birthday." Lane said in a 'duh' tone as she hugged me as well.

"Oh, I'm glad. Hey, Zack, thanks for coming." Rory told him.

"Sure, no problem. There's food, right?" Lane's boyfriend said and I laughed lightly.

"Oh, plenty of food. Lane, I want you to meet Logan. Logan, this is my best friend, Lane."

"Hey, nice to finally meet you." Logan said as they shook hands.

"Nice to finally meet you, too." Lane said and I saw her mouth the words 'he's cute' to Rory and Rory moth back 'I know', making my roll my eyes at their childishness. "And this is my boyfriend, Zack."

"How you doing?" Logan asked him politely as he held out his hand to shake.

"What?" Zach said distractedly and then saw Logan's offered hand and shook it, "Oh, I'm hanging in there."

"Nice to see you again, Colin." Lane said cheekily as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Colin rolled his eyes at her while laughed at the two of them. One time when Colin and I were in Stars Hollow Lane had caught us in a slightly compromised position and now teased Colin about it whenever she saw him.

"You too, Lane." Colin said with a smile.

"You guys want a drink?" Logan asked Lane and Zach.

"Well, I'm not sharing, so make it two drinks." Zach responded and Logan turned to the bar to order.

"Wow, this house is amazing. I've never been here before." Lane said to Rory in awe as she looked around the room.

"I'll give you a tour." Rory offered her.

"Two Rory's. Extra cherries for the lady." The bartender said as he bought the drinks over.

"Oh, my god, you have your own drink." Lane exclaimed as Rory gave her a drink of the same name.

"Wait till you see the bathroom. The guest soap has my face on it." Rory replied as they started walking off.

I was walking around the party by myself with a drink of scotch in my hand. I had lost Colin to a group of DAR members a little while ago and I was having too much fun laughing at his misery to help him get out of the situation. I glanced around the room and I smiled when I saw Luke walking towards the bar. I walked up to him and gently touched his arm to get his attention.

"Hey, little tip: We have beer here." I greeted him with a smile and he turned to me with grin.

"Oh, the magic words. I was just heading over to the bar." He replied to me.

"Have you tried a Rory yet?" I asked him teasingly and he grimaced at the mention of the horrid drink.

"Yes, I have. Not my kind of drink."

"Yeah, mine, either."

"Lorelai will be glad to hear it. So, Rory and her haven't talked yet." Luke told me sadly.

"Nope, not yet."

"Well, it was nice of Rory to invite her here. It means a lot." He said honestly and I smiled back at him.

"I'm glad she came. I'm glad you both came." I told him sincerely.

"Oh, uh, here. I've got something for you." He told me and I smiled in confusion as he looked in his pockets. I bit my lip in surprise when he took a jewellery box out of his pocket and handed it to me. "Birthday present."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I brought it just in case your mother didn't bring one, but she did. It's the one on top of your present mountain over there. But since I already had it in my pocket, I just figured..." Luke babbled and I chuckled at him.

"That was almost a monologue. You're spending too much time with Mom." I joked with him as I opened the box. I gasped when I saw the lovely pearl necklace that was nestled in the box.

"Luke." I said softly as I blinked tears out of my eyes.

"It was my mother's. Liz can't wear it 'cause her neck's too fat, but your neck looks, you know, not fat. It was sitting around in my drawer, so I thought, "hey, give it to Christa". You know you're lucky 'cause Caesar's birthday is next month and I know he likes pearls, so..." he trailed off and I chuckled at him as I looked at the necklace again.

"Thank you." I told him honestly.

"You're welcome." He replied and I wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him.

"I saw a jewellery box and I couldn't help myself. What did you get?" Amanda asked as she came up to us with a smile. I smiled at her brightly as I untangled myself from Luke and showed her the necklace still in the box. "Oh, it's fantastic."

"It's from Luke, my stepfather-to-be." I told her as I smiled back at Luke, who looked surprised that I introduced him like that.

"Well, you have exquisite taste, Luke. I'm Amanda McCrae." Amanda introduced herself politely and shook his hand.

"Amanda is Colin's step-mother." I explained to Luke.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you." Luke said to her with a nod.

"You too. Christa, have you seen that boyfriend of yours anywhere?"

"Not in a while. I left him at the mercy of the Vivian." I told her with unhidden glee and laughed with me at Colin's misfortune.

"I better go save him then." Amanda said before walking away.

"So, where's mom?" I asked Luke after Amanda had left.

"Probably somewhere avoiding Rory and your grandmother." He answered with a shrug.

"Hmm. Probably. Alright, I'm going to greet more old people that hand me checks like it's my bar mitzvah." I told him cheerfully before turning on my heel and striding away, hearing him chuckle at me as I left.

* * *

"What's this?" I heard Luke ask mom as I walked up behind them on the patio.

"You know they shouldn't be allowed to put just anything into a martini glass. Martinis should go into a martini glass. Gin martinis, vodka martinis, period. That's it." Mom ranted to Luke, completely ignoring his question. I smirked to myself as I walked over to where they were standing around a high table. Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek as I stopped next to her.

"Do you know what this is?" Luke asked me in disgust as he held up a piece of sushi.

"It's raw fish, Luke. Dip it in soy sauce and swallow it real quick." I instructed him.

"We were gonna drink martinis. The Rat Pack drank martinis. James Bond drank martinis. You know, it's the sweet drinks that really kill you. It's the sugar that gives you the hangover and makes you throw up." Mom continued her rant about Rory's gross pink drink.

"Yeah, 'cause no one's ever thrown up from a martini before." I pointed out drily as I watch in morbid fascination as Luke ate the sushi.

"Okay, I got the red piece down." He announced and I chuckled lightly.

"'Hello, 'page six'? Have I got a scoop for you'." Mom said to her fiancé before turning to me with a bright smile. "Happy birthday, my offspring." She said as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and I chuckled as I hugged her back.

"Thank you." I replied as she let go of me and looked at me in concern.

"Are you okay? I know we kind had a plan for today since basically your whole life."

"I'm okay." I assured her sadly and she nods in understanding as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"We can always go when you turn 41 instead?" mom suggested cheerfully.

"Are you sure you and Rory will be made up by then?" I asked her bitterly and she frowned at me.

"Yeah, babe. We will be." She assured me seriously as she stared off into space. I squeezed her side tightly and she smiled down at me sadly before kissing my forehead lovingly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Let me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out:**

I smirked to my reflection as I tried on earrings in the mirror on my vanity table in the bedroom. I couldn't decide on what ones to wear out to the Rich Man's Shoe. Logan had organised a group gathering still his father had told him that he was needed in Omaha that weekend. I was startled when my phone rang from my purse on the bed and I jumped in surprise. I skipped over to the purse and answered the phone with a smile after checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" I answered with a smirk on my lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't call." A familiar male voice said in a rush.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" I asked in mock-confusion. "You sound like someone a used to know, but that can't be since my friend is now dead to me!"

"Oh, come on! I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Make it up to me? How?" I asked them with renewed interest and they chuckled at my child-like enthusiasm. "It would have to be really good since you missed my 21st birthday."

"It's a surprise." He answered vaguely and I groaned into the phone.

"I hate surprises, and you know that." I protested but they just laughed at me. I sat down on the end of my bed and smiled to myself because I was happy to be talking to my old friend again. "So, how are you anyway?"

"I'm good. I've been living in Philadelphia, doing a little writing."

"That's great. You've always been a great writer." I praised him and he chucked lightly.

"You've always been a little bias."

"I have not!" I protested loudly. "I told you when you sucked, it just didn't happen often."

"Alright, not fighting. I haven't spoken to you in ages. Tell me what's going on with you?" he demanded and I sighed as I laid my head down on the bed.

"Well, let's see. Since I saw you in New York over the summer, I decided to move in with Colin." I told him with a slight smile.

"Ah! Finally, gave in to the poor guy." He said with a laugh and I rolled my eyes at him. When we had caught up in New York, my friend and Colin hadn't gotten along at first but after I had threatened them to behave and act civil, they realised that they had enough in common to get along with each other.

"Ha-ha. Shut up. I've also been doing some designing and going to classes. That's about it." I said to him.

"Oh, crap. Christa, I've got to go, but I'll call you later, alright?"

"Okay, make sure you do otherwise I'm going to have to track you down in Philly." I warned him seriously but he just chuckled at my threat.

"Alright, alright."

"I miss you, Jess." I told him sincerely and he sighed.

"I miss you, too." Jess Mariano admitted to me and I smiled at the fact that my twin sister's ex-boyfriend and I were still close friends.

* * *

_I was in Star Hollow visiting mom and Rory from Boston and we had gone to Luke's diner for breakfast just like they did every morning. I was drinking my coffee as mom read over Rory's homework at the counter. _

_"It sucks. I know it sucks, just tell me it sucks." Rory said to mom in a child-like voice. I rolled my eyes at her melodramatics. She was worried that her homework wasn't an A like normal. _

_"It's great." Mom told her honestly and I knew that she was being sincere because I had already read the assignment earlier due to my twins begging. _

_"No it's not." _

_"It's an A." _

_"Don't lie." _

_"A-plus." _

_"You're my mom." _

_"Is anything higher than an A-plus?" mom asked me with a curious frown on her lips. _

_"You have to say that." Rory protested as she took the paper off of our mother. _

_"It's an A-plus with a crown and a wand." I told her sarcastically and she just glared at me. _

_"This is not how you raise a child. You don't send them out there with a false sense of pride because out there, in the real world, no one will coddle you. I'd rather know right now if I'm gonna be working at CNN or carrying a basket around its offices with sandwiches in it." Rory ranted to mom and I lifted an eyebrow at her abilities. _

_"Rory." I said her name seriously and she looked at me with wide unguarded eyes. _

_"Yeah?" _

_"It's great." I told her honestly with a smile and she grinned back at me. _

_"Really?" she asked both me and mom. _

_"Really really." Mom assured her with a grin of her own. _

_"Thank you." She said to us as I gave her a side-hug. Luke walked over to where we were sitting and refilled our mugs with coffee. _

_"Coffee, coffee, coffee. Okay, what do you want? Eggs, toast, combo?" Luke asked us in a rush and I frowned up at him._

_"What's the rush there, Zippy?" I asked him. _

_"I'm just swamped this morning. I was supposed to have help but I don't. So order right now or I'm bringing the both of you an egg white omelette with a side of steamed spinach." He threatened and all three of us gasped in panic. _

_"Pancakes." Mom spat out quickly. _

_"French toast." Rory and I ordered at the same time. _

_"Thank you." Luke said to us just as a dark haired teenage guy came down the stairs from Luke apartment. "Jess, you were supposed to be down here. . . .what the hell is that?" Luke asked him in horror. I looked over at the pair with interest and tilted my head the side as I watched them. Mom and Rory had both told me about how Luke's nephew Jess had come to live with him but I hadn't had the chance to meet him yet. _

_"What?" the guy, Jess asked in confusion. _

_"That." Luke said as he pointed to Jess' Metallica t-shirt. _

_"That is a shirt." _

_"Change." Luke demanded sternly. _

_"What?" _

_"Go upstairs and change your shirt." _

_"I like this shirt." Jess protested with a frown. _

_"It would look better on the floor." I muttered to Rory and she giggled at my comment which caught Jess's attention. He looked over at the three of us who were watching the exchange from the counter. _

_"Who are you?" he asked me rudely as he nodded his head in my direction. I raised an eyebrow at him from my seat and smirked a little. _

_"I'm Christa. Daughter of Lorelai, sister of Rory." I introduced myself and he frowned in confusion. _

_"I thought you were in Boston?" he asked me and I shrugged as I sipped my coffee. _

_"And now I'm not." I replied easily and he just nodded at me. _

_"How can you like that shirt?" Luke asked Jess, getting back to the pervious conversation. _

_"It brings out my eyes." Jess responded sarcastically and I laughed out loud, making him smirk. _

_"Hey, part of the deal of you staying here is that you work here, and when you work here you will wear proper work attire, and that is not proper work attire. Now go upstairs and change into something that won't scare the hell out of my customers." _

_"Whatever you say Uncle Luke." Jess said in a voice filled with contempt before he turned and went back upstairs to the apartment. _

_"Gross shirt." Mom commented after he had left. _

_"Yeah." Rory and I agreed at the same time. _

_"Good band." Rory said to us. _

_"Oh yeah." Mom and I agreed at the same time as I nodded as well. _

_"Hot guy." I added and mom grimaced at me while Rory giggled into her coffee cup, making me smile and wink at her knowingly._

* * *

Later that night, Steph, Rose, Juliet, Rory, Logan, Colin, Harrison, Finn and I were all sitting around a table at the Rich Man's Shoe. We were listening to the folk singer that was up on stage. The boys had been drinking fairly heavily and were pretty drunk already. Finn and Harrison perked up in their seats when the female folk singer started singing a specific song.

"'Met her'." Finn uttered out loud.

"Cool. A girl-on-girl thing." Harrison added and I rolled my eyes at them as I sipped my drink. The song changed to 'There I took her life' and the boys shared a look. "It's a snuff film."

"A lesbian snuff film." I told them with smile and we listened as she repeated the last few lines of the verse.

"A redundant lesbian snuff film. How INXS missed her, I don't know." Colin joked from his spot next to me and I laughed as he put an arm on the back of my chair.

"Raise a glass to INXS." Logan said as he raised his beer in the air.

"My countrymen, I'm less than proud to say." Finn quipped as he raised his glass as well.

"I cannot, cannot believe they've reinstated folk night at my beloved pub." Harrison exclaimed in outrage.

"It's a travesty!" I agreed mockingly and he just scowled he me.

"Is there any alcohol left in the state of Connecticut that's not inside them?" Rose asked Juliet quietly about Finn and Harrison and I smirked at her.

"I doubt it." I answered her with a laugh.

"So, boys, another round?" Logan asked the boys.

"Posthaste. Barkeep!" Harrison called as he stood up and wandered over to the bar.

"You've hardly touched the drink in front of you." Rory reminded Logan with a laugh.

"Ah, but I'm anticipating. You don't wait till the drink's done to order another. That's for amateurs." Logan informed her and Colin and I nodded in agreement with him.

"Right. I forgot you went pro." Rory said with smirk.

"So, boys, boys, and Christa when is the Life & Death Brigade going out again? We have been remiss."

"I have ideas. Big ideas. Potentially harmful ideas." I started to say with a smirk on my lips but a customer from a nearby table turned to our group.

"Hey, you mind?" the man asked us rudely.

"Boyfriend?" Finn asked us for our opinion.

"Brother." Colin suggested with a deep nod of his head.

"Or both. He could be southern." I told them calmly as I studied the man who had shushed us.

"Hey. New drinking game. Every time the folk singer sounds sincere, we have to take a drink." Logan suggested and Colin and I groaned simultaneously because we knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Buckle up. It's gonna be a long night." I said out loud as I sipped my drink.

"Come on. Start folding your own, gents." Finn said as he started folding a napkin. He threw it at the stage with grin on his lips and I frowned in confusion. "Whoever hits the folk singer first wins."

"Ooh!" I exclaimed happily and I started folding my own napkin. Much later after Rose and Juliet had already left for the night, Steph was standing near the entrance to the bar as Colin and I stumbled out of the bar with a totally wasted Harrison and Finn following behind us. Rory was supporting most of Logan's weight as she helped him towards the car.

"Good morning, New Haven! My, my, you look fresh and appealing tonight!" Finn called out into the night and I giggled at his drunken behaviour.

"Shut up!" a male voice yelled at us from somewhere and we all looked around for where it came from.

"God has spoken to me... rather rudely." Finn exclaimed in shock.

"Shut up!" the same man screamed down at us again.

"Finn, keep it down." I scolded him sternly. I looked on in shock as Harrison climbed up onto the car and then held onto the street light pole. "Finn, watch. Tostingo!" he called before he threw a glass he was holding in the air and Finn pretended to shoot it before it fell to the ground and it shattered.

"Hey...Shut up!" the man yelled again and I winced at the tone.

"Why are we leaving, Ace?" Logan asked Rory in a pathetic voice.

"Because they're closing." Rory told him as if she was speaking to a child.

"That's no excuse."

"We've overstayed our welcome."

"That makes me sad."

"You've gotta get your plane in the morning."

"Have I gained weight?" Steph asked me and I frowned at her in confusion.

"No. Why?" I asked her in concern.

"Finn didn't make a pass at me." she explained and I felt my eyes widen in surprise.

"No, love, my brain is cloudy. Here I am making a pass at you. Pass, pass!" Finn called loudly after overhearing our conversation and we both rolled our eyes at him.

"That is so expositional." I muttered lowly and Steph chuckled lightly.

"Guys, just get in the car." Rory begged Finn and Harrison. The boys looked at the opened car door but didn't do anything.

"I've forgotten how to get into a car." Harrison stated matter-of-factly.

"Me too. Rory, did you have your owner's manual with you, love?" Finn asked my twin and I laughed along with Colin and Steph.

"Oh, my god. Just get in!" Rory exclaimed as she started pushing them into the car.

"Bon voyage." Steph said to them with a laugh. She gave me a hug and then turned to Rory and waved at her. "Good luck with your wrangling." She called to her before turning and walking off.

"One more drink." Logan said as he stalked off back to the bar where one of the workers were closing the gates.

"Oh, we've got a runner!" a drunk Colin called from next to me and I chuckled as he smiled down at me. I hadn't been drinking that night because I was the designated drivers for me and Colin.

"Come on." Logan said and Rory took off running after him.

"Logan!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Hey, come on. Let me in." he said as he steadied himself on the pub's gate.

"Oh, Logan, they're closed." I told him in a calm voice that I only used when one of the boys were drunk.

"I have to apologize to that folk singer." He said sadly and I smirked at him as I shook my head.

"She's not here. Everyone's gone." Rory told him as she led him back to the car.

"I hurt her feelings."

"She's a folk singer. She's used to it. Come on." She said as they continued walking back to the car. I grabbed Colin's hand and we followed behind them. I giggled as Colin kissed my neck as we walked.

"I don't want to go to Omaha tomorrow." Logan complained to Rory.

"I know." She replied in understanding.

"It's boring."

"I know."

"And it's not here."

"Come on. Yeah."

"I don't like steaks or insurance or football or anything else that they have there."

"You like steaks." I pointed out from behind them.

"Do they even have electricity there?" Logan asked Rory, ignoring my comment.

"Yeah. Yeah. They just got it last year." She answered him as she opened the car door to get him in.

"Don't make me go." he begged her.

"I'm not making you go. I'm just trying to get you home."

"But getting me home means that I have to go to sleep, and when I wake up, I have to go on a plane to Omaha." He explained as he leant against the car. "Where's Omaha? Where's Omaha?"

"Nebraska!" I told him helpfully before Colin pulled me into a passionate kiss.

"Oh. Just get in, please." Rory begged Logan and he sat down in the front passenger seat of Rory's car.

"Aah! Ahh!" Logan said as Rory sighed. She looked around for Finn and Harrison but they weren't anywhere to be seen. I pulled away from Colin reluctantly and looked around with her.

"Harrison? Finn?" I called out loudly as we all looked around.

"Shut up!" someone called from down the street.

"Guys!" Rory yelled out loudly, ignoring the man.

"Shut up!" they called again as Colin and I laughed at Rory, who was looking down the street for Finn and Harrison.

* * *

The next day I was walking up to the apartment when I stopped in my tracks. I froze when I saw a familiar body waiting by my front door.

"Jess?!" I called out in shock but then smiled when he turned around and I saw that he was indeed him. I ran forward and threw myself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist automatically as he chuckled into my hair.

"It's good to see you too, Christa." He told me and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"I totally forgive you!"

"I thought you didn't like surprises?" Jess asked me teasingly as he let me go.

"I lied. I'm a liar, it's what I do." I said nonchalantly as I shrugged my shoulders making him laugh at me. I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing out laugh in pure happiness. I untangled myself from his arms and turned to open the door for us to go into the apartment. I led him into the apartment by the hand and walked directly straight for the couch. I looked back over my shoulder at Jess, just to make sure that he was really there, and saw him looking around the apartment.

"Nice place." He said to me with a smirk as we sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Shut up. Colin's father owns the building so we don't have to pay rent." I explained to him and his smirk got even more pronounced.

"Ah! So that's why you stay with him. The free living accommodations." Jess teased me and I stuck my tongue out at him. ever since Jess and I had met he had always joked that one day I would turn my back on society living like my mom and end up living in a little hick town like Stars Hollow. Truth be told it really didn't seem like a bad idea but I didn't know how I would do without the safety net the money gave me. I did now have the inheritance that my grandfather, Staub left me and I would have access to me very large trust fund when I turned twenty five but still.

"Hey, how did you know where I lived anyway?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Luke. I shook it out of him. He wasn't sure if it was okay." he told me and I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

"Of course it's okay." I said as if it was obvious. I looked over at him and studied him intently as he flinched away from my gaze. "You look good. The years don't seem to have hardened you."

"Yeah, you look good, too." He told me with a chuckle as he relaxed now that my examination was over with.

"So, tell me about where you are living!" I demanded him as I folded my legs underneath me on the couch.

"I'm in Philly." He reminded me.

"Really?"

"Don't laugh."

"No, I'm not. Philadelphia's gotten cool."

"And New York's gotten expensive. Anyway, it's a pretty cool scene in Philly now. Lot of younger people there...pretty big art scene." He told me and I smiled at him happily because it sounded perfect for Jess.

"I know. I read that in the New York Times. They had a picture of a bunch of young people standing on a roof, kind of eclectic and all. It looked fun. I mean, it was clearly one of those pictures that wasn't candid. It was looking a little stiff, but they looked happy." I told him and he chuckled at my ability to go off topic so easily. It was a gift that I had picked up from my mother over the years. You never knew when it was going to come in handy and I had used it a lot in high school to get out of trouble by distracting the teachers from the original problem.

"I know this is kind of weird, but there's actually something I wanted to tell you. Show you, actually." He said with smile and I couldn't help smiling back because Jess's smiles were such a rare occurrence.

"I don't like surprises." I joked pointedly and he chuckled at me before reaching over to his bag that was lying on the floor.

"Yeah, and I didn't think you'd believe it if I didn't show it to you in person." He said as he took a book out of the bag and handed it to me.

"Well, colour me curious. A book." I said before I read the front cover curiously. "'The Subsect'...written by Jess Mariano.'" I read right off the cover and I looked back up at Jess with wide eyes.

"It's no misprint."

"You wrote a book?"

"A short novel."

"You wrote a book?!"

"And through a fluke, I got it to these guys that have a small press, and they read it. I don't know if they were high or something, but they decided to publish it." Jess told me with a smirk on his lips.

"You wrote a book." I stated proudly.

"There's no money in it. They only printed like 500 of them. Believe me, I'm not quitting my day job."

"But you wrote it. You wrote a book." I said as I started flipping through the pages.

"Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe." Jess said with a chuckle and I looked back up at him with a happy smile.

"You sat down and wrote a novel."

"Author-distributed, too. That's what I'm doing here. I'm going around begging independent bookstores to put it in stock. Got it in a few."

"Cool! Where?" I asked excitedly as I sat up straighter.

"Around." He answered vaguely as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I want to see it in a store." I told him in a pleading tone.

"I can give you the addresses." He relented and I grinned as I clapped my hands together.

"You know what I'm gonna do when I see it in the store?"

"What?"

"You know that section toward the front, the staff recommendations? I'm gonna grab a copy of your book and put it in that section, and then I'm going to write my own little recommendation on a card and attach it so people see it and buy it."

"Read it first. That way you can discourage people from buying it."

"No way! I know it's good." I protested as I stood up and looked down at Jess, who was still on the couch. "Jess, you've got such a great brain. I knew that if you could just sit down and stop shaking it around, you could do something like this. I knew it. I knew it."

"I know you did. I work at that press now. Five smelly guys in a cramped room on Locust Street putting out about three books a month. But it's fun." He told me as he stood up with me.

"What about a sequel? Are you writing a sequel?"

"You should read it before you get too jazzed about it, okay?" he said to me and I just shook my head at him as I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

"I'm really proud of you." I told him honestly and he just squeezed me tighter. I let go of him and smiled at him as I pulled away. "I feel like a proud mother." I teased as I squeezed his cheeks in my fingers and pursed my lips in a kissy face. He slapped my hand away and I laughed as I sat back down on the couch. Jess joined me and second later and I saw him glanced down at his hands. I knew him well enough to know that when he did that it meant he wanted to talk about something serious. "What's up, Jess?" I asked him seriously as I grabbed one of his hands in mine. He looked back up at me and I raised an eyebrow to let him know that I was serious.

"Fine." He said with a sigh as he leaned back on the couch and he looked back at me seriously. "I went a saw Rory at your grandparents." He admitted and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Jess and Rory hadn't seen each other since freshman year of Yale when Jess asked Rory to go to New York with him and she said no.

"You want to tell her about the book." I stated knowingly as I leaned back next to him on the couch. "She has a boyfriend, Jess." I informed him and he nodded mutely in understanding.

"She dropped out of Yale."

"I know."

"Do you agree with her?"

"Of course not." I answered him with a snort. "But if it comes down to having her in my life and her not going to Yale and not having her in my life and her still not going to Yale, I'm going to go with the former."

"Good plan." He said to me sarcastically and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I can't make her do anything. She knows my opinion on the subject." I told him and he sighed heavily.

"I'm meant to be having dinner with her tonight."

"'Cause that won't be awkward." I replied sarcastically and he chuckled in agreement.

"You could come with us. That would help make it less awkward."

"No, it wouldn't." I disagreed with a laugh.

"Come on. Please. You know how much I hate saying please." He begged and I rolled my eyes at him again.

"Fine." I said reluctantly. "It's not like Colin here this weekend anyway."

"Thank you." Jess sighed in relief and I chuckled at him, making him roll his eyes at me.

* * *

That night jess and I arrived at Emily and Richards's house and decided to get Rory Mission Impossible style. We parked Jess's car down the street and quietly crept into the gates. I giggled as Jess picked up some pebbles from the driveway and threw them up at a window while I silently hoped that it was Rory's. I heard the front door open and ducked my head, hoping that it wasn't Emily. I saw Jess falter and accidently throw a pebbled at a statue instead of a window. We both exchanged a horrified look but then relaxed when we saw that it was Rory at the door. Jess chuckled and I walked closed to him as Rory came out of the house looking at us both in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked us with a confused smile. I had texted Rory on the way over to let her know that I was coming to dinner. She had texted back a thank you because she was planning on asking me anyway but didn't know if I still kept in contact with Jess.

"I didn't know if it was okay to ring or not." Jess answered her in a whisper and Rory shook her head at him in amusement.

"She's not here."

"She's not?" I asked in my normal volume as I gave her a hug in greeting.

"She's playing bridge tonight." Rory explained and I nodded.

"Oh, good. I parked on the street so she wouldn't see." Jess told her and I smirked at him because we had an argument about where to park before we arrived. I was all for parking in driveway just to annoy Emily, but Jess had chickened out because he was afraid of her. Not that he would admit to that and had used the excuse that he didn't want Rory to get in trouble.

"You're very good at covert ops." Rory said in amusement.

"Years of practice. So, where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. I don't know the area that well."

"You live here." I pointed out in disbelief.

"I know, but Hartford's still a mystery. Even when I went to Chilton, I got right on the bus and headed home. So I don't even have any old high school hangouts to revisit. And these days, I've just been eating here." Rory defended herself.

"Well, I just prefer not going someplace that has food in the title." Jess interrupted before I could say anything else to her.

"Meaning..." Rory and I wondered at the same time.

"Olive, chilli, soup. No gardens. No plantations." He clarified for us and we nodded in understanding.

"Got it. Something funkier." Rory said to him.

"Steer me to the college district. I'll find us something funky." I offered to them teasingly.

"I don't know if we can handle your kind of funky." Jess said warily and I gripped my heart in mock hurt at his comment, making him and Rory chuckle at me. "I find us something funky." He said to Rory and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Sounds good." Rory said with laugh as I linked my arm through hers. A pair of headlights illuminated the driveway and I hoped that it wasn't Emily back from playing bridge. I relaxed slightly when I saw that it was Logan in the driver's seat. I glanced over at Jess just as he was looking over at me and I gave him a knowing look to tell him that this was Rory's boyfriend and he nodded slightly in understanding. Logan climbed out of the car and Rory smiled at him in surprise.

"Logan." Rory said in greeting.

"Am I interrupting something?" Logan asked as he walked over to us.

"No. Hey. When did you get back?"

"Couple hours ago."

"Oh, I...I thought you were getting back tomorrow." Rory said in confusion.

"I thought I'd surprise you, Ace." Logan explained to her and she smiled at him.

"Well, I'm glad you did 'cause you get to meet my old friend, Jess. This is Logan, my boyfriend. Logan, this is Jess. He's in from out of town. And of course you know Christa already." Rory introduced them and I nodded in greeting to Logan as an uncomfortable silence filled the driveway. "Wow. That sounded so grown-up. We're at the age now where we say things like "in from out of town" and "old friend", 'cause when you're young, all your friends are new, and you have to get old to have old friends." Rory babbled and then chuckled uncomfortably while I struggled with the urge to laugh at her awkwardness. Logan finally extended his hand for Jess shake.

"How you doing?" Logan said as they shook hands.

"Okay." Jess answered in his customary monosyllable.

"We were just gonna go grab a bite to eat." I explained to him as I unlinked my arm with Rory's and linked it back through Jess's. I noticed Logan glanced at our linked arms but I ignored it.

"Great. Well, how about if we all go together. Is that okay?" Logan asked us with an edge in his voice.

"Okay by me." Jess answered first and then I nodded in agreement.

"Good."

"All right. Good. We were actually at a loss for where to go, so you actually saved us." Rory said to Logan.

"Call me superman." Logan said to her with a smirk and then turned to face Jess. "Why don't you follow us."

"Sure." Jess answered him.

"Christa, do you want a ride?" Logan asked me with the same hard edge that made me wonder whether no was an option at all so I raised an eyebrow at his tone.

"No, I'm good with Jess." I told him as Jess and I turned towards the gate.

"I'm sure Colin wouldn't want you riding with a stranger." He said and I turned back to him with scowl.

"I'm a big girl, Logan." I said to him with a scoff before walking towards the gate with Jess trailing after me. I really didn't do well with people telling me what to do. Colin knew that I was going out with Jess tonight because I had called him when I was getting ready earlier. Jess and Colin had even spoken on the phone for a few minute while I got dressed but Logan had no right to question what I did so I declined to tell me that fact.

A little while later, we were all sitting at a table at Rich Man's Show with our drinking in front of us. Rory and Logan were sharing one side of the booth while Jess and I sat one the other side next to each other.

"I live pretty close. I'd have had you over to check it out, but it's a bit of a mess." Logan said to all of us.

"And you don't serve food, so we would have been starving at your place." Rory joked as she smiled up at Logan.

"I've got appetizers, half-full bag of chips. Just check the expiration date before you dive in."

"I'm good with this place." Jess assured them stonily and I smirked a little as I sipped my drink.

"Little pointer. Don't come on folk night." Logan told him and I nodded in silent agreement.

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of folk music."

"Something we have in common."

"It's Metallica all the way." I said with a grin to Jess and he chuckled lightly as he glanced at me.

"ACDC." He replied in amusement.

"Guns and Roses." I shot back without missing a beat and he smirked at me.

"Sonny and Cher." He said to me jokingly and I started laughing at him as Rory watched us in amusement because she was used to our weirdness but Logan watched us protectively. Once I stopped laughing, I glanced over at Rory and saw her looking a little uncomfortable.

"Where's a waitress?" Logan wondered out loud to himself and then he smiled when he saw the waitress walk pass our table. "Yo, yo. Right here. Uh, another McKellen's neat, and, Jess, another brew?"

"I'm still working on this one." Jess told him as he tipped his half empty glass.

"Another one, just in case." Logan said to the waitress and she walked off.

"Well, we should probably order. It's a big menu, so if you need guidance..." Rory said to everyone as she tried to break the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm not hungry." Jess said to her with a small smile and I frowned a little.

"You're not hungry?" Logan asked him.

"Nope."

"I thought the whole point was you two were going to get something to eat?"

"And talk." I added to the conversation as I gave Logan a pointedly look.

"Well, yes, it's a given that you're gonna talk while you eat. You know, chef de cuisine will gladly make anything you want if nothing there appeals." Logan told Jess rudely.

"The burgers are good here." Rory told Jess as she studied the menu in front of her.

"I'm having cake." I told them, not even looking at the menu as I crossed my arms on the table.

"You always want cake. Maybe a burger." Jess said as he smirked in my direction and I just grinned back at him.

"Get one of those fancy ones, too, and it's on me, so don't let the price stop you." Logan said and I scowled at him.

"I'll pay for my own." Jess said as he looked through the menu.

"Good man." Logan said as he picked up his own menu and started reading it. "So, how long have you three known each other?"

"A while." I answered him vaguely as Jess sighed and closed his menu.

"You date?" Logan asked as he glanced between Rory and Jess pointedly.

"Yes. We used to date." Rory confirmed for him and I gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Ah! No hemming. No hawing. Good course of action." Logan exclaimed as he closed his menu and placed it down on the table in front of him. "So, were you two high school sweethearts? Rock around the clock, two straws in the milkshake?"

"Logan." Rory said to her boyfriend warningly.

"Hey, did we cheers? I don't think we cheered. That's bad luck. Let's cheers."

"I think we did already, twice." Jess pointed out.

"Well, let's do it again. Cheers." He said as he raised his glass in the middle of the table.

"Cheers." Rory, Jess and I all said at the same time and clinked out glasses together before taking a sip.

"So ...what do you do, Jess?" Logan asked Jess condescendingly and I glared at him from my spot next to Jess.

"Oh, this and that." Jess answered him vaguely and I smiled at his mysterious persona.

"Describe the "this". Describe the "that"."

"He writes." Both Rory and I said to him at the same time.

"You write? Impressive. What do you write?"

"Nothing important." Jess told him and I gripped Jess's arm in protest as I frowned at him. I saw Logan's gaze narrow in on my hand that was resting on Jess's arm.

"He wrote a book." Rory told Logan proudly.

"Oh, you penned the great American novel, Jess?" Logan asked him.

"Wasn't quite that ambitious." Jess said to him as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye and I smiled at him reassuringly.

"So, what are we talking here? Short novel? Kafka length or longer? Dos Passos, Tolstoy? Or longer? Robert Musil? Proust? I'm not throwing you with these names, am I?" l

"You seem very obsessed with length." Jess commented and I snorted in amusement that I tried to hide when Logan and Rory both glared at me.

"I'm just trying to get a picture in my head, that's all."

"It's a short novel." Rory told Logan as she glared openly at him.

"Any good?" he asked her as he turned to look at her.

"I haven't read it yet."

"Yet? Well, at least you'll have one reader. That's something." Logan said to Jess.

"I've read half of it. It's kind of brilliant." I praised my friend as I grinned at him proudly.

"I only gave you a copy earlier today and I've been with you since then. How did you already read half of it?" Jess asked me in amusement.

"I read fast." I answered him with a shrug and he chuckled lightly.

"You know, I should just write down all my random thoughts and stuff that happens to me and conversations I have and just add a bunch of "he said, she said"-'s, and get it published. You got a copy on you?" Logan asked Jess and I glared at him heatedly.

"No." Jess answered him shortly.

"You should send me a copy."

"Sure. And where do I send it? The blonde dick at Yale?"

"I wouldn't, there's a lot of them." I joked as Jess stood up and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair.

"Jess." Rory said in protest.

"Whoa, whoa. We're just trying to keep it friendly here, buddy." Logan said as he got up and blocked Jess's way out of the bar.

"Get out of my way." Jess said as he pushed passed him and walked out. Rory stood up and followed Jess towards the door.

"Forget him, Rory." Logan called out to her over his shoulder.

"Don't follow me." Rory called back at him as she walked out of the door. Logan sat back down on the bench and I glared at him as I shook my head.

"Writers are so sensitive." He joked as he took a sip of his drink and I scoffed at him as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You were a dick, Logan." I stated pointedly.

"I was just challenging him. Jeez. Hey, if Hemingway can take it, so can he. Hey, if he wanted to, he could have taken a pop at me. Pugnacity! It's a vital component of literary life. Again, consult your Hemingway. Come on. Do not let this guy get to you."

"You're getting to me." I half shouted at him as I leaned forward on the table.

"Me?"

"Yes. You were an ass."

"Look, I'm sorry I came back early. I really messed things up here."

"Jess wrote a book. He wrote a book, and you mocked him."

"I did not mock him." Logan protested and I shook my head again as I stood up from my seat. "Oh, come on, Teek!"

"Oh, by the way, Colin and Jess are friends as well. We don't keep things from each other. He knew that I spent the day with Jess and he knew that I was going to dinner with him. Colin trusts me completely and I trust him. But you obviously don't trust Rory, or you wouldn't have pulled this macho crap. Rory's adult, Logan, she can make her own decisions." I told him as I pulled on my jacket before turning on my heel and walked out of the bar. I looked down the sidewalk and saw Jess and Rory standing a few feet down from the front of the bar.

"What are you doing? Living at your grandparents' place, being in the DAR, no Yale...why did you drop out of Yale?!" I heard Jess yell at Rory as I walked over to the pair.

"It's complicated." Rory said to him defensively.

"It's not! It's not complicated."

"You don't know."

"This isn't you. This, you going out with this jerk, with the Porsche. The three of us made fun of guys like this." Jess reminded her as he gestured to me as well.

"You caught him on a bad night."

"This isn't about him. Okay, screw him. What's going on with you? This isn't you, Rory. You know it isn't. What's going on?" Jess asked her in concern and I glanced at Rory. She just looked like a sad, lost little girl.

"I don't know. I don't know." She repeated herself softly.

"Hey, uh... may-may-maybe we'll catch up at a better time." Jess said to Rory and she nodded slowly. "Christa, you want a ride?" he asked me and I glanced at Rory to make sure she was okay with me leaving. She nodded her consent at me and I smiled up at Jess and nodded to him. I gave Rory a hug goodbye and she clung to me for a minute before Jess grabbed my hand and we started walking away from my twin sister. Jess stopped suddenly and turned to look at Rory. "Happy birthday, by the way. Wasn't that a couple weeks ago, your birthday?"

* * *

There was a knock on the front door of the apartment and I rolled over in my sleep as I attempted to ignore it. The knocking came again more loudly and I groaned as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

"I'm coming!" I screamed to the person on the other side of the door as I tiredly rubbed my eyes and I slowly made my way out of the bedroom. I walked over to the door and swung it up fully prepared to yelled at whoever and woken me up at 3.30 in the morning. I froze when I saw who was at the door. Rory stood there in front of me with tears streaming down her cheeks and her eyes looking red from crying. I frowned in concern as I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. She started sobbing into my shoulder as I stroked her hair comfortingly. I pulled her over to the couch and she curled up into me as she continued crying loudly. "Shh… I got you." I mumbled to her as I tried to sooth my sisters pain.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, beautiful people! **

**Thank you everyone for your favourites, follows and reviews. You have no idea how much I love reading them. **

**So, I have decided to add a few bonus chapters to this story. You're probably wondering what that means exactly. I'm going to re-write some episodes of previous seasons to include Christa. **

**If you have a favourite episode or want to read an episode with Christa based in season two, three or four please add your suggestions to your review or send me a PM. **

**- BehindGrayEyes x**

* * *

**The Prodigal Daughter Returns:**

I was in the kitchen making coffee when Rory came out of the spare bedroom looking tired and drained. I smiled at her in sympathy as she wondered over to the bench in the kitchen.

"Good morning, twin." I greeted her as she sat down on one of the stools at the bench.

"Back at you, twin. Where is Colin anyway?" she asked me as she looked around the apartment as if he would appear out to thin air.

"Uh, he is in New York checking out Columbia Law School. I made you coffee."

"Oh, I've got time for a sip." She said as I poured her a cup of coffee and slid it over to her. She didn't say anything as she took the cup from me and sipped the glorious liquid. "Oh, God!" she moaned happily and I smirked at her as I sipped my own coffee. Rory looked up at me with wide eyes filled with wonder like a little kid at Christmas time. "It tastes just like Luke's coffee."

"That's because it is." I told her matter-of-factly with a shrug.

"How?!" she half yelled at me and I just laughed lightly. Rory shook her head at me and went back to her coffee as she drank it quickly. We were didn't say anything for a couple of minutes as we drank out coffee. "Thanks for letting me crash here."

"Anytime you want." I said to her with a half-smile as I poured myself some more coffee and then lift the pot to ask Rory if she wanted a refill. When she nodded at me, I poured her another cup as well.

"I might take you up on that."

"We have a spare room. I can't wait to hear the whole story."

"Still living it." Rory murmured after she took a long sip for her coffee. I didn't want to pressure Rory into telling me what had happened after I left the pub with Jess but I was dying with curiosity. I refilled my coffee cup and Rory's at the same time before I walked around the bench and sat down on one of the stools next to Rory.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked her softly as I crossed my legs and got comfortable. Rory sighed and looked up at me with tear filled eyes. I frowned in sympathy as I grabbed her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"I realised last night that I'm not doing anything meaningful. I'm palling with grandmother and being waited on by a maid. I come home, and my shoes are magically shined. My clothes are magically clean, ironed, and laid out. My bed is magically turned down. I'm in the DAR? I'm going to meetings and teas and cocktail parties? That isn't me." Rory told me as tears rolled down her cheeks and I smiled softly as I wiped them away with my thumbs. "Logan and I are taking a break." She admitted to me and her voice broke a little. I pulled her into a hug for a minute and when I pulled back I smiled at her in sympathy. I heard the front door open and something thump on the floor. Rory looked at me in question but I just shook my head with a frown to say that I didn't know who it was.

"Honey, I'm home!" I heard Colin call out from the front door and I smiled brightly at the sound of my boyfriend's voice. I jumped off the stool and walked out the kitchen. Colin saw me walking towards him from the kitchen and pulled me into his arms with a grin. I giggled as Colin spun me around in his arms. He put me back down on the ground and kissed me passionately until I heard someone clear their throat behind us. I pulled away from him reluctantly and saw Rory leaning against the wall with an amused smirk on her lips as she watched us. Colin followed my gaze and smiled when he saw my twin standing there.

"Hi, Colin." Rory greeted him coyly as she smiled knowingly at us.

"Rory." he replied with a matching smirk as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "How it going at the grandparents?" he asked her innocently but Rory's face fell and she wandered back into the kitchen without a word. I scowled and smacked Colin lightly on the chest as he just looked back at me in confusion.

"She moved out of Emily and Richard's." I explained to him and he grimaced in regret at his words.

"That sucks. Where's she staying now?" he asked and I glanced away from him as I bit my bottom lip guiltily. He looked at me in confusion but he soon caught on to my line of thinking. "Oh, come on!"

"She just left Emily and Richards. She's making progress! Please. We have an extra bedroom and she's tiny so she doesn't take up much space."

"I don't know." He said with a groan but I could tell that he was cracking. I ran my hand up over his chest and smirked when I felt his muscle jump at my touch. I leaned into him closer and gave him my best puppy dog eyes that I used to get my way.

"She and Logan broke up." I told him quietly and he looked at me in surprise. I tilted me head to the side and Colin sighed at me.

"Fine. She's your sister so of course she can stay here." Colin relented with a lovingly smile and I grin up at him before kissing him thoroughly. I broke away from him with a sigh and he kissed me again lightly. "Hmm, one more thing…" I started to say innocently.

"Yeah?" he asked apprehensively.

"Can you and Finn go to Emily and Richard's to get Rory's things?"

* * *

**3rd Person POV:**

Richard Gilmore walked into house as he was looking through that day's mail. There was no noise in the house at that point of time.

"Emily!" He called out for his wife. "Sorry to be so late. Jenson wouldn't stop talking. The car will be here in 20 minutes to take me to the airport. Remember, I'm not going to be back until Tuesday, so you're going to have to deal with Alejandro yourself." He said loudly as he walked into the living room and sat down at a small desk with his check book. "I will leave you the check. All you have to do is hand it to him and tell him that if there are any problems I will be back to talk to him on Wednesday. I hope you told the maid to pack my raincoat. Forecasts are predicting Armageddon, apparently. Now, I have a stopover in Las Vegas. Is there anything that you want me to bring you back?" he asked the empty house. The older man failed to notice the young men walking down the stairs, each holding a box full of things.

"Your safe return, darling, is all I need." One of the younger men said jokingly in an Australian accent. Richard turned around in surprise to look at the boys that were coming down the stairs. His expression was a mixture of shock and confusion as it took in the young men.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Well, if I knew that, I could dismiss my therapist, couldn't I? Though she's very hot." The first boy said from the stairs.

"I'm Colin McCrae." The second boy said politely to the older man.

"How wonderful for you." Richard said sarcastically as he got up from the desk he was sitting at and approached the boys. "What are you doing in my house? Put that box down. Both of you." He ordered them and the boys complied as they dropped the boxes on the stairs. "Explain yourselves."

"Mr Gilmore, I'm Colin McCrae. You know my father, Andrew McCrae." The second boy introduced himself even though the two of them had already met more than once.

"Yes, I know Andrew McCrae. What are you doing in my house? Where's Mrs Gilmore?"

"Don't know, mate. Christa let us in." the young man with the accent explained to the confused older gentleman.

"Christa?" Richard questioned them as he relaxed a little at the mention of one of his granddaughters.

"She's my girlfriend. She asked Finn and me to come over and help move Rory's stuff." Colin explained to him.

"Move Rory's stuff where?" Richard asked them, even more confused.

"To her new place of residence." The accented young man, Finn answered him vaguely.

"What do you mean "new place of residence"? Rory's moving out?"

"I hope so. Otherwise, she'll have nothing to wear tomorrow."

"That's preposterous! A person doesn't just move out without a word. Where is she? Rory!" Richard called out for his granddaughter.

"She already left."

"What about Christa?"

"She left with Rory as well. She didn't want her to be alone right now." Colin told him.

"Well I want an explanation." Richard demanded to two of them.

"We'll have her call you." Colin said to him politely as he started to pick up the same box as before.

"You! You'll ha...What are you doing with that?" Richard asked as he pointed to the box in Colin's arms. "That's my tennis racket."

"I told you she didn't point to the closet on the right." Finn commented to Colin smugly.

"Well then I have no idea what closet she was pointing to." Colin complained to the Australian.

"I suppose these humidors aren't hers, either. Pity." He said and then turned to Richard, who was looking very confused at the situation. "Any chance you're sick of them? I promise to give them a nice home and show them a picture of you every year at Christmas." He asked the older man but Richard just pointed upstairs and walked away from the two of them. "Very tall man, that one." Finn commented as he picked up his box and headed back upstairs with Colin following him.

* * *

**Christa POV**

After I left Colin and Finn at Emily and Richard's house to gather Rory's things and bring back to our apartment I decided to go and visit Mom and Luke since I was so close to Stars Hollow. I walked into Luke's diner where I knew I would be able to find at least Luke. I smiled when I saw my Mom sitting alone at one of the tables. I walked up behind her and surprised her with a kiss on the cheek from behind. Mom jumped in surprise but smiled when she saw that it was only me. I chuckled at her reaction and fell onto one of the empty seats at the table.

"Hola, mama." I greeted her in a fake Spanish accent and she grinned at me.

"Hello, offspring." She replied as I took one of the nachos from the plate in front of her. I bit into it and immediately reached for a napkin to spit it out in. I grimaced at Mom in confusion as to why her nachos were horrible.

"What's up with the nachos?" I asked her in disgust as I studied the plate with her.

"No idea." She answered me just as Luke came up to the side of the table.

"Hey, Christa." He greeted me and gave me a hug before turning his attention back to Mom. "They're gonna to get cold." He said about the nachos in front of her.

"Are they different?" Mom asked him with a frown.

"Different than what?"

"They seem different." I added to the conversation as I scowled at the plate.

"They're nachos. Now eat them."

"You used baked chips." Mom accused him and I gasped in horror at the thought.

"What?"

"You did, didn't you? You used baked chips and low-fat cheese."

"I did not... use low-fat cheese." Luke said to us and Mom grinned triumphantly.

"Ha!"

"How can you tell?"

"How could you lie? I let my daughter eat one of those!" Mom told him as she wrapped around my shoulder and tried to fake comfort me.

"They taste the same!"

"Oh, the trust, Luke. How are we gonna to make it if you're constantly trying to keep me healthy?"

"Fine. Forget it. Die at 60." Luke relented as he took her plate and walked away with it.

"Bring me a doughnut while I wait!" I called out after him.

"Hey look there's Lane." Mom said and I turned my head to see Lane trying to avoid Mom. "Hey, Lane. Yoo-hoo! Lane! Whoo!" Mom called out to her while gesturing wildly with her arms. "Lane, seriously. Landing planes over here." Mom called out and Lane gave up trying to ignore her and walked over to our table.

"Christa, Lorelai. Hey." Lane greeted us and we smiled at her.

"Hey. Fill me up here." Mom said and Lane filled up Mom cup with coffee while avoiding eye contact. "Sooo, how's it going?"

"Good."

"Good. I haven't seen you the last couple days."

"I've been working the lunch shift."

"Oh. Something wrong?"

"Wrong?"

"Yeah, you're giving me a Valerie Cherish, you know, and "I don't wanna see that!"." Mom said and I giggle at the reference but Lane frowned in confusion. "It's a great show. You should watch it."

"I will."

"It's cancelled."

"Oh, sorry."

"Well, it's your fault, so...Wow, what's going on here? Usually when I come in, you say "hi", and then I say "hi", and you tell me what's going on in your life, and I tell you what's going on in my life. It's not curing the bird flu or anything, but it's been a nice tradition."

"Oh, God! Christa, I can't do this!" Lane cried at me and I frowned in confusion as Mom turned to face me.

"Do what?" I asked her in honest confusion because I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Lie about Rory." Lane explained and I sighed as I leaned back in my seat. I figured that Rory had told Lane about moving in with me and asked her to tell Mom about it.

"Rory moved in with me." I explained to Mom because I really didn't want to lie to Mom about anything let alone Rory.

"She...But why? What happened?" Mom asked Lane and I in concern.

"I don't really know. We haven't had the in-depth conversation yet. She just said she moved out of her grandparents' house and needed a place to crash." Lane answered Mom.

"Wow, that's pretty big."

"Yeah. And she didn't tell me if I could say anything to you, so I just assumed I shouldn't."

"Christa?" mom asked me for an explanation.

"I can't tell you, mom." I told her apologetically as I shrugged my shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"Right, I get it. I heard nothing. So, it's nice of you to let her crash." Mom said to me with tight smile that I returned.

"Hey, she's small. How much room can she take up, right?" I joked with her as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Did she bring her books?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Good point. Are you okay?" I asked her I concern as I put a hand on her arm.

"Me? Sure. I'm fine. A little curious, but I'm fine."

"I can't tell you, Mom. Sorry."

"It's okay, I get it."

"I would but its Rory's place to tell you not mine." I explained to her and she smiled at me reassuringly.

"It's fine, really. So, how is Colin handling having a new roommate?" Mom asked me with a smirk and I groaned.

* * *

A couple of days later, Colin and I were enjoying having the apartment alone for the first time in a couple of days. We weren't used to having to be discreet in our own apartment so we were taking advantage of it by making out in the living room.

"Okay, as much as I love my sister, I'm thinking it's time to kick her to the curb." I stated to Colin as he kissed down my down. I moved so that I was straddling him as he placed his hands on my hips it keep me balanced on his lap.

"Hmm. I like that idea." He murmured as I kissed along his jaw. I giggled as he pulled my shirt off over my head and continued to kiss down my collarbone. Colin's hand wandered up my thigh and under my skirt as I ran my hand down his chest until I reached the bottom of his shirt. I pulled his shirt over his head and threw it somewhere on the floor without breaking the kiss.

"Damn it!" I swore as my cell phone started ringing from somewhere on the couch next to us. Colin groaned as I pulled away and reached over to turn it off. I checked the caller ID and saw that it was Rory. I reluctantly decided to answer it so I smiled at Colin apologetically but he just threw his head back on the couch in frustration. I put the phone to my ear without moving from my position on top of Colin.

"Don't answer it." Colin pleaded with me already knowing the answer.

"Yes, hello? What the hell do you want?" I answered the phone in a huff. Colin smirked at me evilly and I narrowed my eyes at him in suspicion.

"Christa?" Rory said from over the phone line. "I got a job!"

"What? Where?" I asked her excitedly. Rory had been applying for jobs at newspapers all over Connecticut over the last few days that she had been living with us.

"At the Stamford Gazette. It pays less than I'll spend on gas to get there, but it's a job! A writing job."

"Yes!"

"And I'm going back to Yale. I already called them and talked to my Dean, and it's all arranged. I just have to find someplace to live, but, who cares. I'll figure it out." Rory said in excitement and I chuckled lightly.

"And this is what you want?" I asked her in concern. Colin was still grinning at me and when I looked at him in suspicion, his smile just grew even more. He trailed a finger along my bare stomach and I had to bite back a moan.

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Aw, Rory!" I sighed happily and I heard her laugh on the other end of the phone. Colin leaned into me and peppered a line of kisses across my chest and down towards my cleavage. I bit my bottom lip to stop from moaning in pleasure.

"I'm going to go see mom!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Do you want to come?" she asked me and I immediately shook my head even though she couldn't see me.

"No, I'm good. You and mom need some alone time."

"And so do we." Colin whispered in my ear and I giggled at his comment.

"Was that Colin?" Rory asked coyly and then I heard her gasp through the phone connection. "Are you having sex right now?"

"No, I'm not having sex right now." I assured her with a laugh and Colin chuckled against my earlobe.

"Hang up the phone and the answer will be 'yes'!" Colin said loudly, making me giggle and Rory exclaim in revulsion.

"That's disgusting! I'm going now so I'll talk to you later." Rory said quickly before hanging up the phone. I laughed at my twin sister as I threw the phone on the floor. I turned back to Colin with a saucy grin on my lips and he smirked at me.

"Now, where were we?" I asked him playfully and Colin kissed my lips thoroughly in reply to my rhetorically question.


	8. Chapter 8

**He's Slippin' 'Em Bread... Dig?:**

I entered my mother's house in Stars Hollow early the next morning because I wanted to spend time with both Mom and Rory at the same time for the first time months.

"Come down here!" I heard Rory yell from the living room and I walked into with a frown of confusion on my lips. I saw Paul Anka, Mom's dog sitting on the coffee table and my twin sister standing on the landing on the stairs staring at him in shock.

"I'm coming!" Mom called from upstairs and I walked further into the room.

"What's going on?" I asked Rory as I looked between a stunned Rory and the floppy haired dog. Mom came running down the stairs and just looked between Rory and Paul Anka in confusion like me.

"What?" Mom asked Rory.

"He has emerged. I'm assuming that's Paul Anka." Rory said as she pointed at the dog.

"Well, it ain't Louis Prima." I quipped as I walked over to him and sat down on the coffee table next to him. My comment drew Mom and Rory's attention towards me and they smiled at me happily.

"Hey, babe!" Mom greeted me.

"Hi, Christa." Rory said and I smiled at them as I patted the dog.

"Morning, mother, twin." I said to them each.

"Shoo! Shoo!" Rory said to Paul Anka and waved her hand at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked her in amusement.

"He shouldn't be on the table."

"That's his favourite spot. What are you going to do next, tell him he can't drink out of my water glass?" Mom asked her incredulously as she walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Sorry. How should I approach him?"

"Follow me." Mom said and Rory nodded as she followed her down the stairs slowly. Mom paused at the bottom of the staircase and held up a hand to stop Rory. "Okay, stop. Now go in the kitchen and put sugar on your toes."

"What?" Rory and I said at the same time.

"And quickly! Because first impressions are crucial and you're blowing it big time."

"Sugar on my toes?" Rory asked her sceptically as I smothered a laugh.

"Yes, he loves sugar, so the first time you come close to him, if you've got sugar on your toes that he can lick and enjoy, you're in."

"He's going to lick it?"

"Go, quick!" Mom said to her as she motioned for her to go to the kitchen.

"Okay." Rory said before she ran to the kitchen and Mom came over to sit down on Paul Anka's other side.

"You're so mean." I whispered to her with an amused smile as I shook my head at her.

"I know." Mom said with a giggle before she raised her voice to call to Rory. "Wet your toes first so it sticks!"

"What?" Rory called from the kitchen and I giggled at the situation.

"Dry sugar on a dry toe isn't going to work!" I answered for Mom.

"I'm making a mess."

"Don't worry about the mess!" Mom shouted to her and I laughed into my hand.

"We're going to have ants!"

"Hurry!" Mom and I called to her at the same time as we tried to stop our giggling at Rory's expense.

"I'm coming!" Rory replied in a shout before walking back into the living room with sugar on her bare foot.

"Okay, my toes are all sugared."

"Okay, good! Now do the hokey-pokey and turn yourself around." Mom said to her with a serious face but I couldn't help from laughing out loud now that I was actually looking at Rory's sugared foot.

"What?" Rory asked warily as she watched me laughing into my hand.

"All you have to do is pet him and you're in!"

"You're evil."

"Yes, I am."

"Now I know where Christa gets it from." Rory said as Paul Anka hopped off the coffee table and started licking Rory's sugary toes. "Hey, there, boy! Oh, that tickles!"

"Well, he's glad you're here! Wait a minute, you're here!"

"I know!"

"Wait right there." Mom said as she got up from her seat on the coffee table and walked to the hall closet as Rory and I watched her in confusion.

"Is this another trick?" Rory asked her loudly and I chuckled at her as I stood up from the coffee table as well.

"No, I'm just getting something." Mom assured her from the closet and then we heard the Bop-it make a noise, making Rory and I shared a disbelieving look.

"You're pulling out the Bop-it? You're already that bored of her?" I asked Mom in amusement as Rory scowled at me. I grinned back at her innocently as Mom walked back into the room with a hat box in her hands.

"No. I just accidentally hit the Bop-it while I was getting this."

"You bought me a hat?" Rory asked her as her brow furrowed in confusion.

"No, it's a hat box, filled with these." She said as she opened it and got out a little scrap of paper. "These are notes, written on whatever I had on hand at the time. Any time I had a topic I wanted to share with you or a random thought during that crappy time apart of ours, I jotted it down and threw it in the hat box so I wouldn't forget."

"Really?" Rory and I asked at the same time.

"I missed you, kid."

"Missed you too." Rory told her as we all smiled at each other for a second. "So, hit us with 'em!"

"While we walk to Luke's. Come on. Some of these are pretty cryptic." Mom said to us and then she turned to the paper in her hand. "Um, Lenny Kravitz - where did Lenny Kravitz –"

"Get all his money?" all three of us finished the thought together.

"Yes! One hit and he's buying a Fifth Avenue mansion." Mom said to us in awe.

"Maybe he went through Nicole Kidman's wallet when she wasn't looking." I joked with them as I shrugged my shoulders.

"That's got to be it." Mom said with a nod and then she looked at another piece of paper in her hand. "Computer MP down - oh. I want to download music. There's so much out there. Can you help me figure that out? MP3 players?"

"I can do that. Next?" Rory asked her as we all headed towards the front door so that we could walk to Luke's for breakfast.

"Eh, Kirk skeet shooting."

"That's a bad combination." Rory and I said at the same time as I grimaced at the thought.

"Yeah, it's the first time the town church has taken gunfire since the eighteenth century." Mom said to us with smile as we got to the front door.

"I missed so much so quickly!" Rory exclaimed as I laughed and we all exited the house through the front door. As we reached the town square, Mom was still reading through the scraps of paper that she had written on during her and Rory's time apart.

"Okay. Babette - cats." Mom read from the paper in her hand and her brow furrowed in confusion as she studied the paper.

"Death?" Rory asked her in mild concern as I put my hands in my jacket pockets and we crossed the road.

"No."

"Adopted another one?" I suggested to her as I looked over at her with smile.

"No."

"What?" Rory and I asked curiously at the same time.

"Recorded their meows, did some editing and cut a record of them singing Ring of Fire."

"Well, that goes straight to the top of my charts." Rory said sarcastically as I muffled a laugh by pressing my lips together tightly.

"Oh, I started reading Beowulf, that new translation you recommended." Mom said to Rory and my twin glanced at her in shock as I smirked because I knew how this conversation would end.

"The Seamus Heaney? Good for you."

"Yeah. And stopped reading Beowulf, jotted on the same slip three minutes later." I told her smugly as I pulled the paper out of Mom's hand and read it with a smirk.

"Well, you gave it the old college try." Rory said to Mom with a smirk of her own.

"Oh, this is a new one!" Mom exclaimed as she read a new scrap of paper. "Kirk's got a new hobby. He's doing –"

"Doing Tai Chi?" Rory and I finished together.

"How'd you know that?" Mom asked us in surprise.

"Because he's doing it right there." I told her as I pointed over to the park where Kirk was doing Tai Chi on the grass. "Is it possible for him to do something without looking a little stupid?"

"He wouldn't be Kirk then." Rory replied with a shrug and I nodded in agreement with that statement.

"Bendleshnitz?" Mom read from her new paper in confusion and then shrugged her shoulders.

"That's not English." Rory pointed out to her as I giggled at Mom.

"I know. I'll add it to the ones that I can't make out. And –"she started as she tried to decrypt the note in her hands, "- brazzlefrat."

"Another unreadable one."

"They're stacking up!" Mom exclaimed as we reached Luke's. Lorelai grabbed Rory's hand to stop her from entering the building. "Okay. Now wait out here."

"Why?" my twin and I both asked at the same time.

"It's a thing. A Moment thing. Just wait here. Come on, Christa." Mom said as she opened the door for me to enter. I shrugged at Rory's confused glance and walked into the diner with Mom. I smiled when I saw Luke at the counter and when he turned around to the see who had entered the diner, he smiled at me and Mom.

"Hey!" he greeted us as he walked over to us.

"Hi, Luke." I replied in greeting as I wrapped my arms around his waist in a hug. His arms immediately went around my shoulders as he returned my hug. I stayed leaning against Luke with my head on his shoulder and my arms around his waist as his arm stayed around my shoulders.

"You ready?" Mom asked her fiancé excitedly and Luke frowned in confusion.

"For what?" he asked her as I grinned from ear to ear along with Mom.

"For this! The Moment you've all been waiting for!" she exclaimed and then made a weird noise with her tongue. "Brrrr!"

"What's that?" Luke asked her in confusion as we both looked at her like she was crazy.

"It's a drum roll."

"It sounded more like a helicopter." I pointed out to her and Luke nodded in agreement with me.

"Well, it's a drum roll, go with it, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, Rory Gilmore!" she said enthusiastically as she opened the door for Rory to come in.

"Hi Luke!" Rory greeted him as she came into the diner.

"Hey, Rory, you're back!" Luke exclaimed happily as he removed his arm from around me and pulled Rory into an awkward hug that I rolled my eyes at.

"I'm back!"

"Good! You look good. You look healthy, happy. Huh, here with your Mom, and Christa, all three of you here. Yeah, it's great, you know! Yay!" he babbled and then paused awkwardly. "I don't think I've ever said 'yay' before. Sounded weird."

"A little." Mom confirmed for him.

"A lot." I disagreed with them.

"Come, sit, sit." Luke said to us and then led us over to a vacant table.

"What was that sound you were making?" Rory asked Mom as the three of us sat down at the table.

"A drum roll!" Mom told her, sounding exasperated.

"It sounded like a helicopter or something." Rory argued.

"That's what I said." I told her with a chuckle.

"Has no one heard a drum roll before?" Mom asked her in a frustrated tone of voice.

"Hey, I saved you the best table in case you showed up." Luke told us with a smile and I grinned up at him happily.

"In case? It was mandatory." Rory insisted with a small smile.

"What can I get you? Ah, never mind. I'm going to bring you everything you like. I know what you like."

"Sounds good."

"Oh, hey! You were with me when I wrote this." Mom said to Luke and then held up one of the notes in her hand and Luke took it from her. "Uh, what does it say?"

"Oh, this is from that stupid Mexican restaurant we went to." Luke stated as he read the note in his hand.

"Right. I wrote something on the other side."

"Man, this place stunk!"

"I know, but read the back, there. I've got to know what it says."

"Look what we paid! Unbelievable."

"Downright usurious! Now look at the other side, there. The brazzelfrat?"

"They did charge me for that second beer! I never got it."

"Scandalous. But the other side."

"Six bucks for guacamole."

"Oh, just bring me what she's having." Mom told him as she took the paper back from him and I smirked in amusement.

"Coming right up." He assured her as he turned to leave the table.

"So, Luke, wait! You haven't told me anything about yourself. What's new with you?" Rory asked him curiously.

"With me? Uh, nothing. We're engaged, your Mom and me."

"I know that, but anything else?"

"No. No, why?" he asked cagily and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just wondering."

"What have you heard?"

"Nothing. That's why I'm asking."

"Well, there's your answer. Nothing. Nothing's new." He said with a nod and I frowned in confusion at hi behaviour. "I'm going to go put in your order, okay?" he told us just before he turned around and left.

"We'll be waiting hungrily!" I called after him.

"Did I inadvertently step into something there?" Rory asked Mom, a little worried that she did something to Luke.

"No idea." Mom answered her with a shrug and then Lane came running up to the table with a bright smile on her lips.

"Mother and daughters, together again, and all is right with the world. Hi, Lorelai." our Korean friend said in greeting to the three of us.

"Hi, Lane." We all said happily at the same time as she sat down at our table.

"So, next Wednesday night, I need you guys. Tell me you're not busy." Lane begged me and Rory with wide eyes.

"I'm not sure, why?" Rory asked her curiously and I tilted my head to the side also wondering the answer to her question.

"We're doing a showcase. Me and the band. Not a gig, a showcase. And a label's going to be there." She answered her excitedly and Mom and I gasped eagerly at the news. "I'm shaking! I shouldn't shake, I'm a drummer! It'll mess up the beat. But, my God, we're playing for a label."

"Wow! Lane, I'm absolutely there. This is big!" Rory gushed excitedly.

"Very big." Lane agreed with her and then she turned to me with wide eyes. "Christa?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for anything. It's going to be great." I assured her with a wide smile.

"It is going to be great! Unless it's a 'Waiting for Guffman' thing and the label guys don't show up. Did I just jinx it?" Lane asked us worriedly.

"I don't know. Let's do that un-jinxing thing we used to do, just in case." Rory said to her and Lane nodded her Lane in agreement.

"Good." She said as they linked their pinkie fingers together.

"Jinx back, double pinkie, round the side, double pinkie, jinx back." Rory and Lane both said solemnly at the same time as they moved their hands in different directions before clapping their hands together twice.

"Hey, I want to do that!" Mom exclaimed.

"It's a serious thing, Mom! You don't just do it." Rory argued seriously.

"Sorry."

"Well, Lane, you guys are so prepared for this. That tape you gave me of your new stuff was awesome!" I said to my friend as I leaned forward on the table.

"Hey, what if I jinx it! Do I get to do the un-jinxing thing then?" Mom asked them.

"If we jinx-back a second time within the hour, it cancels out the first jinx-back." Lane explained to her.

"Sorry."

"So, what were your favourites on the tape?" Lane asked me with a smile.

"Well, 'Melissa' was catchy, and 'Colleen Francine'. But that other one - 'Rebecca in the morning'? That was my favourite."

"Mine too!"

"But Colin's favourite was 'Olivia is the only'." I informed her with a smile and she returned it brightly.

"Zach's into songs with girl's names, huh?" Rory asked her in amusement.

"He thinks that's our best shot at radio play. Worked for the Police, the Knack, Franz Ferdinand."

"Good thinking." Rory and I agreed with a nod.

"Hey. Do you want to be our DA Pennebaker? We're borrowing a video camera, and we need someone sober to do the photography. I would ask you Christa, but we both know that the likelihood of you being sober is slim to none." Lane joked with me and I chuckled lightly in agreement.

"I could set my crack pipe aside for the night and do that." Rory told Lane with a smile.

"Thanks!" Lane exclaimed as she took out a notepad and pen. "Christa, you plus one?"

"Probably, Colin really loves your music." I told her and she grinned proudly as she write that down on the notepad before she turned back to Rory.

"You plus one too, right?" she asked my twin and I grimaced.

"Plus one?" Rory asked in confusion.

"You plus Logan?"

"No. Just me." Rory said quickly and I noticed Mom looked concerned.

"Oh, okay. How about you, Lorelai?"

"Working that night, sweetie, but break a leg. Does that get me a hand thingy?" Mom asked the two of them eagerly.

"No." Rory answered her and Mom wilted in her seat so I gripped her hand in sympathy.

"Rats."

"See you guys." Lane said with chuckled as she stood up and left our table.

"So, just you, huh?" Mom asked Rory carefully.

"Just me." Rory said shortly as she looked down at the table.

"Okay!"

"As long as you're prying –" Rory started to say.

"I wasn't." Mom insisted quickly and I snorted in amusement.

"Briefly, succinctly, Logan and I are not talking right now."

"Ah."

"We had a fight. A big one, in public."

"Oops."

"I think we just needed a little break, a least I did. It's more like a hiatus."

"Well, sometimes a break is good."

"Sometimes." Rory said sadly just as Luke brought us our food.

"Food. First wave only. Second wave, five minutes." Luke announced as he put the plates down in front of us.

"Let's dig in." I said eagerly.

"I hope it's not cold. Oops, I think I jinxed it!" Mom exclaimed with a grin and I laughed at her. She held up her pinkie finger and Rory sighed before playing along with her.

"Jinx back, double pinkie, round the side, double pinkie, jinx back." They both said together as I started eating my breakfast through giggles.

"Woo!" Mom cheered as they finished.

* * *

**Rory POV**

Mom and I were sitting at a table in the dining room of the Dragonfly Inn. Sookie had piled mountains of food on the table for us to eat and I found myself wishing that Christa hadn't gone home after we left Luke's but she had to go to class back at Yale. I smiled as I looked over at Mom reading one of the notes she had written on while we were apart. I couldn't believe that I had let months go pass without talking to her.

"Three days." I repeated after Mom in disbelief.

"Three days he had the hiccups." Mom confirmed with a nod and I frowned in sympathy.

"Poor Paul Anka."

"And by sneaking up on him to scare them out of him, he jumped so high, his head split my lip. See the red? My blood." Mom said as she pointed to a spot of red on the paper in her hand and I leaned over to glance at it.

"Yuck."

"Oh. Um, here's a non-fun one. Just to mix it up a little." Mom said a little reluctantly and I frowned at her tone.

"What?" I asked her warily.

"Your dad called."

"Wow. It's been, like a year, hasn't it? When did he call?"

"The very worst possible time." Mom replied drily and I rolled my eyes.

"He's got a knack for that."

"I didn't talk to him. He left a message, some of which Luke overheard and it freaked him out."

"That's understandable."

"And we argued, see? Arguing's not just for the younger demographic." Mom pointed out to me.

"Nice to know."

"But then we made up and we had a good talk and then I listened to the rest of Christopher's message and he wants to see me." she informed me with a small shrug.

"Why?" I asked her warily.

"He didn't say. He sounded very chipper. He said he had something very important to discuss with me, and that it wasn't a trick, and that it was an absolute one hundred precent positive thing for me and for you."

"For both of us." I repeated suspiciously.

"Mm-hm."

"Meaning there's a ninety-nine and ninety-nine one hundredths precent chance that it won't be."

"I guess so. So what should I do?" Mom asked me for my opinion.

"You could ignore him." I suggested to her with shrug of my shoulders.

"That's dangerous, too."

"It's a slippery slope with Dad."

"What could it be about? I mean, he wouldn't dare be in cahoots with Emily and Richard on something, would he?" Mom asked me sarcastically and I smirked at her as I sipped my coffee.

"He's not that dumb."

"Yeah, but he's vulnerable. They prey on the weak."

"But he said it's something positive. It couldn't involve them." I pointed out to her and she nodded in agreement.

"Maybe he's getting back together with his wife." Mom suggested and I frowned as I thought about it.

"Well, that's not technically good news for us, it's just news."

"Maybe it's about Gigi. Maybe he's discovered she's a prodigy. Maybe he's calling to invite us to her premiere at Carnegie Hall."

"Playing what instrument?" I asked her in amusement.

"The flugle horn."

"She's three and Christa would have told us about it. We would have read about it in the paper by now. 'Freakishly talented three-year-old flugle horn prodigy discovered'." I joked with he and she smiled back at me.

"It would be very positive news."

"Hm. Well, I'm out."

"Me too."

"I guess there's only one way to find out." I said with a sigh as I sunk down lower in my seat in defeat.

"Guess so." Mom said with groan and I smiled sympathetically. "Brazzlefrat."

"Bendleschnitz."

* * *

**3rd Person POV:**

Christopher Hayden was waiting at a table in an unknown café as he waited for the mother of his twin girls, Lorelai to enter the shop. The bell over the front door to the café rang and he turned slightly to see Lorelai Gilmore walking into the café.

"Lorelai. Over here. I snagged the best table in the house." Chris called out to the tall brunette and she turned to see him waiting for her.

"You slip the guy a buck?" Lorelai joked and he chuckled lightly.

"I had to get my fifty cents change. Hey." He greeted her as he stood up from his seat at the table.

"Hey, Chris." She greeted in return and smiled at him as they hugged.

"I don't know how you do it, I mean, you always look –" Chris said to her as he looked her over appreciatively.

"Yeah, well, I get the girls from the Wash & Brush Up company from the Wizard of Oz working for me now."

"Good deal." He said as he chuckled and sat back down at the table. Lorelai took the sit across from her and they smiled at each other somewhat hesitantly. "So, uh, I already know how Christa is but how's our Rory?"

"Oh, she's good. She's, um, you know. Great. Very busy." Lorelai answered him quickly.

"As per usual."

"She took a little time off Yale." She told him slowly as if she was expecting a massive blowout.

"And the Apocalypse is this week? Next week?" Chris asked her sarcastically after a pregnant pause.

"She's back there and she's thriving. She'll be running the world one day."

"You sure?" he asked her worriedly.

"She's doing great. Trust me." Lorelai assured him with a smile.

"I do. I just can't believe that Christa didn't tell me."

"Well, you know how protective she is of Rory."

"That's true. I did know that they had a falling out early in the semester but she wouldn't tell me why."

"Well, Rory dropping out was why. So?" Lorelai asked him a little impatiently. "What's going on?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Chris replied cheekily and Lorelai sighed at him.

"Christopher."

"This is the funniest thing I've got to do in years. Years! All right? Let me, let me savour it." He begged her with a pout.

"Come on! Tell me. What?"

"My grandfather died." He informed her and she frowned at him.

"Um, that's fun how?"

"Well, that's not the fun part. The old man was ninety eight, long life, great life. His last words were an inappropriate pass at the nurse tending to him. Pretty good one, too. I made a mental note of it."

"So your grandfather died." She said in order to prompt him back to the reason they were there.

"Well, the old guy was actually pretty cool, and for some reason he always liked me. And he was the Hayden with the purse strings. Long story short, I'm rich."

"You're rich!" Lorelai exclaimed in surprise.

"Ridiculously. I mean, I'm not Bill Gates by a long shot, but I've got money! Can you stand it?"

"Good, Chris. That's good." She told him in a bemused tone.

"And I want to share it. I've set Gigi up with funds for private nursery school and prep school and college and grad school and post-grad school and Ph.D. school and a wedding and a divorce if she wants it, and another wedding or she can buy a bunch of cats and a lifetime supply of Twizzlers and popcorn if that's her choice. But she's all set, and now I want to take care of you. You and Rory."

"What about Christa?"

"I've already spoken to Christa about it and she agreed with me. My dad left her a massive trust fund and inheritance when he died so she's set for life."

"Christa got everything?" Lorelai asked in amazement because she didn't know that fact about her daughter.

"Oh, yeah! The old man loved Christa. He left her absolutely everything. All the houses, the winery, the money. Christa's filthy rich. She has access to her trust fund but everything is being handled by the family lawyer until she's twenty five. The family lawyer was Andrew McCrae but Christa hired a new one since she's dating Colin. I think she secretly didn't want Andrew to know about all of her assets in case she and Colin get married one day." Chris informed Lorelai with a smirk and Lorelai chuckled lightly at the last comment.

"Speaking of Colin, you've met him, right?"

"Sure."

"And you like him?"

"Of course. Christa and him come over and have dinner with my Mom, Gigi and I every Thursday night."

"Seriously?" Lorelai asked in amusement and Chris nodded at her.

"So, about taking care of you and Rory?" Chris asked her as he got back to the reason he had asked her to meet him.

"Oh. Oh, Chris, I don't know what to say." She said as she shook her head at him.

"What do you want? A car? How about a Bentley? They're pretty sweet. Or a new house? Or a tract of land to build a new house? I can do that. I can buy you a tract."

"Christopher –"

"Or is there someone you hate that you'd like to say 'I can buy and sell you' to? Because you can have the funds to make that happen. You can crush people with money. You want some people-crushing money?"

"Oh, Chris, slow down, here."

"Come on, everybody needs something!" he insisted.

"Including you. Don't forget yourself."

"Ah, I bought a new bike, I bought a giant audio system. I'm done. What else do I want? Nothing."

"Buy yourself a tract of land."

"Come on. Let me give you something. A castle in Ireland? A Civil War cannon. A brewery. Yeah! Buy a brewery! That would be cool! You could brew your own beer!"

"You know, I had a brewery for a while, but I couldn't stand the smell of hops." Lorelai quipped and Chris gave her an amused look before continuing.

"Pay off something. Your house. Outstanding bills. Your bookie. Something. Pay off Yale. Pay off your back taxes."

"I don't owe any back taxes."

"Oh, right, that's me."

"Look, Chris, you're very nice to offer, and I love that you're so excited about it. It's great to see you like this. But I'm fine."

"You're too un-materialistic. You know, I've always thought that."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll talk to Rory. See if she wants a brewery or a Bentley."

"Or a castle! Don't forget the castle." Chris reminded her with a chuckle.

"I'll mention the castle." Lorelai assured him with a smile.

"And it doesn't have to be in Ireland. It can be in Germany, Czech Republic, Scotland, Narnia."

"I'll leave nothing out."

"Okay. So, you hungry?" he asked her as he picked up the menu in front of him.

"A little."

"Eh, let's eat." Chris said with a chuckle. "I'm paying for lunch!"

* * *

**Christa POV**

I was running around the apartment trying to find my textbook for class as Colin watched me in amusement from the couch in the living room. I groaned in frustration as my cell phone rang at the most inopportune Moment. I stood up from my crouch that I was in because I was looking under a table near the bedroom door.

"Answer the phone!" I shouted at Colin when I saw that he was just sitting there watching me in amusement. He held his hands up in surrender as he reached over to get the phone from the coffee table. I rolled my eyes in a huff as I walked over to the bench in the kitchen to search for the missing textbook.

"Hello, Christa's phone." I heard Colin answer my phone for me as I searched the bench unsuccessfully.

"God! Where the hell is it?" I shouted in frustration as I put my head in my hands and took a few deep breathes.

"Hi, Lorelai. Christa, stop trying to seduce me, I'm talking to your mother." I heard Colin say into the phone and I scowled as I picked up a shoe from the floor and threw it at him. "Ow! Crap, Christa that had a heel!"

"Shut up." I said to him with a scowl as I walked over and took the phone out of his hand. I sunk down onto the couch next to him with a huff. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?" I heard Mom say into the phone and I frowned in defeat.

"I lost a textbook so now I'm late to class. Colin's not helping." I said as I glared at the man in question but he just kissed my cheek with a grin. I sighed in resign and closed my eyes as I leaned back on the couch. "So, what's up?"

"I just had lunch with your dad and he told me about his grandfather's death."

"Oh, yeah. Dad told me he was going to see if you or Rory wanted anything with the money." I murmured into the phone as I put my hand over my eyes. Colin must have sensed that I was only hanging by a thread because he lifted my legs up so that they were draped across his. I frowned at him in confusion before he started rubbing circles on my feet and I had to bite back a moan of pleasure.

"Well, he offered us all kinds of things. A brewery, a Faberge egg, or let's see, what else did he mention? Um, paying for Yale through a Ph.D., uh, vacations, cannon from the Civil War - functioning, by the way, so it's not just show. It seemed like the sky was the limit, although he didn't mention the Hoover Dam, so maybe there is a cap of some sort."

"That's nice of him, Mom." I reminded her with a laugh because she sounded put out.

"I just wanted to make sure that it was okay with you that he wanted to spend the money on us. I mean, I know that apparently you're filthy rich in your own right?" Mom said to me accusingly and I winced at the hurt in her voice. Colin glanced at me in concern and I frowned at him pathetically.

"Dad told you about the money." I said as a statement not a question.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I don't know. It's just I know how you feel about money, Mom."

"Oh, honey. This is different." Mom insisted and I rolled my eyes at her. "It is. I'm so sorry that you didn't feel as though you could tell me."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay." she repeated my words back to me and I had to smile. "I better go talk to Rory about buying a Bentley or something."

"Alright, let me know how it goes." I told her and she chuckled lightly.

"Will do. I love you, Christa."

"I love you too, Mom." I said with a smile and then I hung up the phone. I turned to my boyfriend with an apologetic smile on my lips. He smiled back at me and pressed a light kiss to my lips. "I'm sorry I threw a shoe at you." I apologised softly and he chuckled at me before kissing me passionately.

"It's okay. You know I've always had a thing for high heels." He murmured in my ear and I giggled as he kissed all the way down my neck.


	9. Flashback 1

**Hey, Readers!**

**Here is the first entire flashback chapter. I hope you guys like it.**

**Please remember to review, favourite and follow this story because I love hearing what you guys think. Good or Bad. I'm hoping for good. **

**- BehindGrayEyes x**

* * *

**2.16 There's The Rub:**

**Lorelai POV**

I was sitting on my bed as Rory walked around my room packing a suitcase for my weekend getting at a spa with my mother. I was talking on the phone with the spa to see if I could organise the entire weekend in a way that meant I didn't have to see my mother.

"So, then we're all confirmed. Uh, great. Thanks so much for your help. Okay, bye." I said politely into the phone but on the outside I was smiling widely. I hung up the phone and threw it on the bed in triumph. 'Yes…!"

"That was an evil yes." Rory stated from her spot in my closet.

"Not an evil yes. It's a 'yes, I'm pretty, but hello, I'm smart' kind of a yes." I explained the difference to her with a devilish grin.

"Oh, my mistake." She replied sarcastically as she rolled her baby blue eyes at me.

"So here's the deal – I go into my facial just as my mother is finishing her salt glow, which will end ten minutes after I've hit my scalp treatment which puts me in the watsu massage pool at least six minutes into her back facial. Uh, in fact, the day is so well planned, I won't see her until dinner which will be cut tragically short by the food poisoning I plan to contract."

"You are twelve and disgusting." Rory scolded me and I couldn't help thinking about how my other daughter, Christa would have found it funny.

"I am trapped and desperate." I told her pathetically.

"You really think you can avoid Grandma the entire weekend?"

"Hey, I'm nothing if not a great organizer. Now, let's talk about what you're gonna do tonight. Throwing a party, I hope? Inviting hundreds of bikers and lowlifes who are gonna trash the place?" I joked with her but I was exactly kind of hoping the answer was 'yes'. Rory had always been studious in nature and I thought that she really needed to relax and act like a normal teenager.

"I am going to do laundry, watch TV, order Indian food and go to bed early."

"And then come the bikers and lowlifes who are gonna trash the place?"

"I may even fall asleep on the couch with the TV on."

"When do the bikers and lowlifes get to trash the place?"

"You're all packed." Rory told me, ignoring my commentary as she zipped up the suitcase filled with my clothes for the weekend.

"Rory, you have to do something bad when Mommy's out of town. It's the law. You're seen Risky Business, right? Now I'm not asking for a prostitution ring, but how about a floating craps game or something? Learn from your sister." I insisted with a pout.

"I'll see what I can do." Rory replied to my request as she left my bedroom to take the suitcase down the stairs. I frowned at her retreating figure and made a split second decision as I grabbed my cell phone from bedside table. I pressed the speed dial number two and then held the phone up to my ear. The phone rang twice before someone picked it up and I heard the music playing in the background.

"Welcome to the Madame Scarlet's House of Pleasure! For a little dirty pearls action with Miss Manner's press 1. For a study date in detention with Principal Mary press 2. To learn the ins and outs of inns with our naughty French maid Lola press 3. And finally, if you are looking for a night of extreme satisfaction press 4 in order to get me, Christa Hayden!" I heard my other daughter say into the phone line and I burst out laughing at her greeting.

"God! I love you so much. I have no doubt that you are mine, daughter." I told her through giggles once my laughing fit quietened down.

"I thought you might like that." Christa said to me with a chuckle.

"I appreciated it greatly." I assured her with a wide smile that she couldn't see. "So, the reason I called…"

"It wasn't to say 'hello' to your favourite daughter?" she asked me jokingly and I rolled my eyes at her comment.

"You know how I'm going out of town with my mother?" I asked her as I cringed at the thought of spending the weekend with Emily Gilmore.

"Oh, God. You're not making me go with you, are you?"

"No! Definitely not!" I said hurriedly because I didn't want her to freak out and hang up the phone.

"Thank God." She swore quietly and I chuckled at the similarities between me and my more rebellious daughter.

"I was just wondering what you were doing this weekend? I know that Rory would want some company…"

"Hmm. Guess where I am right now?" Christa asked me randomly and I frowned at the change of topic. When I didn't say anything after a minute, I heard my daughter huff on the other end of the phone line. "I'll give you a hint." She said and then I heard a car horn beep but it wasn't through the phone line. Instead the honk had come from outside the house so I turned my head to the window in my bedroom and then ran towards it with the phone still pressed to my ear. I pulled the curtain back and squealed when I saw a familiar Porsche driving down the driveway towards the house. I dropped the phone to the ground and ran out of my bedroom with a giant smile on my lips.

* * *

**Christa POV**

I was already on my way to Stars Hollow to spend the weekend with Rory when my mother rang me. I pulled to a stop outside their small house with a smile on my face. I saw Mom's face peeking out the top floor window and hung up my phone when she disappeared. I jumped out of my car as soon as it stopped and ran towards the house. When I was halfway to the porch, the front door opened and my mother came running out at full speed. She jumped down the three steps without slowly down and met me on the middle of the front lawn. I giggled loudly as Mom's arms wrapped around me and I hugged her back just as tightly.

"Oh, my baby." I heard Mom coo at me and I had to laugh a little as I let her go. Mom smiled down at me as she gripped my cheeks in between her hands. She squeezed my cheeks so that my lips pursed together and I frowned in pain.

"Mom, you're hurting me." I mumbled through squashed together lips and she immediately let go of me.

"Sorry, hon." She apologised to me and I smiled at her reassuringly. She grabbed my hand with a grin and pulled me into the house after her. "Rory! I brought you a surprise!"

"Thanks for making me sound like a hooker, Mom." I muttered drily and she shot me a grin over her shoulder.

"What did you do?" I heard my twin sister yell from the living room as we walked into the room. I saw Rory sitting in front of a suitcase as she folded clothing.

"What didn't she do?" I retorted with a smirk and Rory spun around quickly in surprise.

"Christa!" she screeched before she stood up and threw herself at me. I giggled as I hugged her back tightly before wrapped us both in her arms in a group hug. We pulled away from each as a car honking was heard from out the front of the house.

"I think Grandma's here." Rory said to us as Mom and I frowned in confusion.

"What's she honking for? She hates honking. She calls it a mechanical bodily function." Mom quipped and I snorted in amusement as Mom looked out the window. "Uh, geez."

"Oh, cool!" Rory and I said at the same time as we both rushed over to look out the window with Mom. We all walked outside and saw Emily standing in front of a limousine with a bright smile on her lips.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Emily greeted us.

"What, are you going to the prom?" I asked her with a nod at the limo as I leaned up against one of the pillars on the porch.

"I just thought since this weekend is all about relaxing, we should start with the ride." She explained with shrug as Mom and Rory approached her.

"This is cool, Grandma." Rory told her as she looked over the limo.

"Thank you, Rory. So, are we all ready to go?"

"I guess so, Miss Daisy. Bye sweets." Mom said to both of us and I nodded at her with a smile while Rory gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye. Bye Grandma." Rory said to them with a small smile.

"Goodbye Rory." Emily said to her warmly.

"Have a good time." I called from my spot on the porch.

"Bikers and lowlifes, Christa." Mom reminded me and I smirked at her in understanding.

"I'll get right on it."

* * *

Since mom was already gone on her spa weekend with Emily and Rory was at Chilton, I decided to go to Luke's for lunch and see if Jess was there. I frowned as I got close and saw the construction taking place in the diner. I looked in the window and smiled when I saw Luke looking aggravated.

"Hey." I called out to him brightly in greeting as I entered the diner. He turned out at the sound of my voice and gave me a surprised half smile.

"Hey." He replied in shock at seeing me.

"Geez, look at this place. It's a mess. How long – "I started to say as I went to sit down at one of the vacant seats.

"Nope – can't sit here." Luke interrupted me as he grabbed my arm to stop me from sitting down at the table.

"Why not?" I asked curiously as held my spot defiantly.

"Three people got nailed in the head there earlier."

"But their food was okay, right?" I asked him cautiously and he just rolled his eyes at him as he tried once again to move me away from the table by my arm.

"Will you just move?" Luke asked me irritably and I smiled at him innocently as I let him pull over to the new table that was vacant. "God help me, you're just like your mother."

"Thank you!" I replied to him brightly as I sat down at the table. Luke shook his head at me as I noticed Jess walking over to the table. I smiled at Jess as he came over to the table and held out an open umbrella I hadn't noticed in his hands. I frowned in confusion but took the umbrella from him and held it over my head.

"Oh, you are really funny. You and Tom should put an act together." Luke said drily to Jess as I smirked in amusement but went to put the umbrella. "I'd leave it open." He warned me as he pointed to the umbrella and I let my hand fall back to the table. "I'll bring you your food." He said as he turned to walk away.

"I haven't ordered yet." I pointed out to him with a frown and he turned back to me with a half-smile on his lips.

"I know what you're going to order. You're going to have French toast, pancakes and a bucket of coffee."

"Lucky guess." I muttered to him with narrowed eyes before he chuckled lightly and walked back to put my order in with Caesar. Jess rolled his eyes at his uncle and sat down at one of the chairs at my table. I turned to face him with a bright smile because I hadn't seen him in a few weeks since I hadn't been to visit Stars Hollow. "Well hello, handsome." I greeted him and he smirked at me from across the table.

"Christa." He replied to me in greeting as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you doing in town?"

"Mom went away from the weekend so she called begged me to come over and try and get that studiously boring twin of mine to rebel."

"Rory? Rebel?" he asked me to clarify as he raised an eyebrow in doubt.

"I know, right? She must think I'm a freaking miracle worker or something." I told him drily as Luke came over with my food and coffee.

"Here you go." Luke said as he put the plate and cup down in front of me. "Aren't you meant to be working?" he asked his nephew.

"Oh, come on, Luke. I hardly get to see Jess." I said with a pout of my lip and Luke sighed before turning and walking away from us.

"You're powerful." Jess teased me with a smirk and I grinned back at him.

"It's too bad I only use them for evil." I quipped back at him as I took a sip of my coffee.

* * *

Rory was sitting next to me on the floor as she folded clothes into piles and I watched television while on the phone ordering Indian food for our dinner.

"No, that's four orders of garlic gnon, six simosas, and two chicken vindiloo. And rice, and the green sauce, and no salad, and . . . . Oh wait, sorry. Can you hold on a sec? I asked as the phone beeped to say that I had a call waiting. I pressed the hold button and answered the other call. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Phil's Liquor. I'm supposed to be delivering a keg there tonight." I heard mom's voice on the other end of the call and I smiled at her greeting.

"I'm sorry, we ordered our keg from Jim's Liquor. Hold on." I said to her before I switched back to the Indian restaurant. "Hi, sorry. Yeah, that's it. Forty minutes, great. Bye." I said to them in parting before I pressed the hold button and went back to mom. "Hey."

"Who was that?" mom asked me and I leaned back onto the couch.

"The male stripper." I joked with her and Rory slapped my leg playfully while mom chuckled at me. "It was Sandeep's."

"Oh, you're ordering the Indian food?"

"Yup."

"Good, enjoy. Can you burn the house down afterward, 'cause that's the only way we'll get the smell out." Mom told me and I giggled at her.

"Absolutely. How's the spa?" I asked her curiously.

"Tranquil."

"Really?" I interrupted her doubtfully as I raised an eyebrow that she couldn't see.

"I wasn't done. Tranquilizers, uh, will be required if I have to spend one more minute with my mother."

"Please tell me you're at least trying to get along with her? I don't want to have to go to the morgue and identify a mangled body." I warned her playfully.

"Oh, hey, I'm being a peach." She assured me and I laughed out loud doubtfully.

"Really?"

"Well, I smell like a peach. Was that the doorbell?" she asked me when the doorbell rang at the front door. I looked over at the door from my spot on the floor with a confused frown. I hit Rory's thigh so that she turned and looked at me. I pointed to the door and she rolled her eyes at me but stood up to answer it.

"Yeah, I'm making Rory get it. But I better go pay the drug dealer and help carry in the keg." I quipped to her.

"Oh wait, I wanna find out who it is." Mom exclaimed excitedly and I rolled my eyes at her.

"The sooner you get back to your weekend, the sooner it'll be over." I reminded her with an amused smile on my lips.

"Okay, but before you go, can you get out my address book and count how many friends I have? I'll wait."

"Okay, sure. Here we go. Hmm, one. Bye." I replied jokingly and she gasped playfully at me.

"Mean!"

"Steal me soap!" I told her before I hung up the phone and listened to whoever was at the front door. I frowned when I heard a familiar voice along with Rory's.

"Paris. What -." Rory said in an annoyed voice.

"I tried to stay home and study myself but I can't. I don't know what anything means anymore. I mean, I can't even read my own handwriting. What does this say? The person who wrote this should be dressed in a clown suit stuffing bodies under their porch. You're in your pyjamas." Paris Gellar said as she pushed her way into the living room and I made sure to stay quiet so that she didn't notice me in the room.

"I know."

"This was the big night you had planned – a rendezvous with Mr Peanut?"

"Well..."

"You're doing laundry."

"Yes."

"You're doing laundry in your pyjamas."

"My mom is out of town and I never get the house all to myself."

"You mean you never get to go months on end without seeing your parents, just getting an occasional postcard that doesn't even have a courtesy "Wish you were here" written on it? That does suck. Don't let me stand in your way." Paris snapped at Rory and I rolled my eyes at her outburst but my heart did feel for her a little.

"Paris, wait."

"No, forget it, I don't want to get in the way of your big night. I hear there's gonna be some hot knitting going on later."

"Fine, I'll study with you." Rory agreed reluctantly.

"You will?"

"For one hour, that's it. We can do a quick review and a pop quiz and then you are going home. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Okay, so, go sit on the couch. I'll be out in the minute."

"Where are you going?" Paris asked her suspiciously.

"I'm going to go change." Rory informed her as she walked towards her bedroom off the kitchen.

"Okay, but my hour doesn't start until you get back out here, right?" Paris called after her and I chucked lightly.

I was reading a magazine on the couch while Rory and Paris were studying on the living room floor later that night. I tried to block out their voices as I read but it was getting annoying because I was hungry.

"So, given that those are the reactions occurring in the two half-cells, what do you do next?" Rory quizzed Paris.

"Well, if we add them together, doubling the coefficients of the silver half equation but not the voltage, we get the equation for the complete reaction." Paris answered her correctly and I rolled my eyes at that as I closed my magazine.

"Well, you're in much better shape than you wanna think you are." Rory assured her as I sat up from my sprawled position on the couch.

"Impossible." Paris muttered just as the doorbell rang. Rory sighed loudly and got up off the floor to go answer the door. "Where are you going?"

"That's our food." I explained to her as I stood up and stretched out my body. Paris glanced at me, annoyed and then turned back to Rory's retreating back.

"Another half hour, please!"

"No, you got your hour. You need to go." Rory told her without turning around to face her.

"But – "

"Go!" Rory and I both said sternly at the same time.

"Fine." Paris grumbled as she started collecting to books from the floor. I followed Rory to the door as she opened it to reveal Jess standing on the other side. I smiled at my friend as he smirked at the shock on my twins face.

"Delivery." Jess said as he held up the box in his hands and I grinned wider.

"Ooh! Food." I exclaimed happily as I clapped my hands together.

"What are you doing here?" Rory demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Well, Luke figured since you're alone tonight that maybe you wouldn't have any food in the house, so he sent over a care package." Jess explained to her and I smirked at him because I knew that real reason he was here. I had noticed the last time I was visiting that Rory and Jess shared a chemistry that was missing from Rory and Dean.

"We don't need a care package. We ordered food from Sandeep's."

"Really? Planning on burning down the house afterwards? The only way to kill the smell. Where should I put this?" he asked as he pushed passed her into the house. I stepped back to let him through and gestured towards the kitchen. "Kitchen?"

"Sure." I answered him with a shrug and he smirked at me before he headed for the kitchen with me and Rory following after him.

"God, how much food is in there? This could feed twelve." Rory exclaimed as she looked in the box that Jess sat on the table.

"Excuse me, I've seen you two eat." Jess reminded her and I giggled as I sat down at the table.

"Fine, six."

"Yeah, well, he wanted you taken care of. He wasn't sure how long your mom was gonna be gone for." Jess answered her and I narrowed my eyes at him because I knew for a fact that he was lying to her.

"Just tonight."

"Oh, he didn't know that."

"Well, now you can tell him."

"I will."

"So how come Caesar didn't bring this over?" I asked him innocently as I leaned my chin in one of my hands.

"I volunteered." Jess answered me tightly as he glared at me.

"Why?" Rory asked in naïve confusion and I smirked at Jess.

"Yeah, Jess, why?" I repeated the question.

"Just wanted to get out of the construction zone. There's nothing but banging and yelling. That place gives me a headache." He answered us both with a shrug and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh." Rory said and I swore I heard disappointment laced in her voice.

"Why – did you think I wanted to come over here and see you?" Jess asked her pointedly and Rory shifted uncomfortably as she glared at him. I leaned back in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest and watched the tension filled exchange between them.

"No."

"Just needed some quiet."

"Fine."

"That is all."

"Got it."

"Clear my head."

"I understand."

"So, aren't you gonna eat?"

"Eventually."

"It gets cold fast."

"I can heat it up." Rory pointed out to him and I grimaced at the thought.

"Reheated French fries really suck." I reminded her as I reached into the box and pulled out some fries.

"Hmm, they do suck." Rory agreed with me.

"Yeah, so, eat." Jess said to her as he pointed to the box.

"Okay, I will. You're still standing there."

"I know. You didn't give me a tip."

"You want money?"

"No, I'll take a fry though." Jess said to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, yeah, have as much as you want." Rory told him as I ate another fry.

"Okay, great." He replied to her as he took off his jacket and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked him and I could hear the panic in her voice.

"Getting ready to eat." He said to her in a 'duh' tone as he sat down on the chair next to me at the table.

"You're staying?"

"Didn't you just invite me?"

"No, I -."

"No, you told me to have all I wanted. That sounded invitation-like."

"That did pretty invitation-like, Rory." I said to her with shrug as she glared at me for being on his side of the argument.

"You wanna stay here and eat?" Rory asked him incredulously.

"Beats being at Luke's." he answered her as he pulled out some fries from the box on the table.

"Company's better." I added as I winked at Jess and he smirked back at me.

"But –" Rory started to protest just as Paris walked into the kitchen from the living room.

"I can't find my flashcards." Paris said to Rory as she came into the room.

"I didn't know you had company." Jess said as he gave Paris an onceover.

"This is Paris. We were just studying." Rory explained to him as she gestured to Paris with one hand.

"Huh."

"Don't worry, I was just leaving. If you find my flashcards, call me, okay?" Paris said to Rory with a small smile on her lips.

"No." Rory rushed to say to her and I shared a glance of understanding with Jess.

"What?"

"Stay for dinner."

"But I thought. . ."

"We have a ton of food, and we can go over the notes more later."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Is that mac and cheese?"

"It sure is."

"I love mac and cheese."

"Great."

"I'm not allowed to have mac and cheese."

"Splurge. Come on Paris, stay."

"Do you have a twenty-four hour pharmacy just in case I have an allergic reaction to something?" Paris asked Rory seriously and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Believe it or not, we do." Rory assured her.

"Okay, can I borrow your phone?"

"It's by the door." my twin told her and Paris smiled at her before leaving the kitchen to find the phone near the door.

"Interesting." I stated calmly as I took in the scene that had just unfolded in front of me.

"What is?" Rory asked me nervously.

"You think we need a chaperone?" Jess asked her with a smirk on his lips.

"No, I don't."

"You just invited one." I pointed out to her as I nodded my head towards where Paris had exited. "I actually find it quite insulting that I'm not enough of a chaperone for you?"

"I'm just being polite. Paris is alone tonight and you yourself just said we have enough food for four."

"With me around, it's down to two." Jess pointed out to her.

"With Paris around, it evens out perfectly."

"Works out well." I said with a shrug as I tried to force my laughter at the situation down so that I didn't laugh out loud.

"I think so." Rory agreed with me and I shook my head in amusement.

Rory, Paris, Jess and I were all sitting around the kitchen table eating the food that Jess had brought with him.

"A tragic waste of paper." Paris declared and we all stared at her opened mouthed.

"I can't believe you just said that." Jess said vehemently as he shook his head. I nodded in agreement with Jess as I took a bite of my mac and cheese.

"Well, it's true. The Beat's writing was completely self-indulgent. I have one word for Jack Kerouac – edit."

"It was not self-indulgent. The Beats believed in shocking people, stirring things up." I told her pointedly as I smiled in genuine pleasure at the lively debate.

"They believed in drugs, booze, and petty crime."

"Add sex, shopping and coffee and you have my six favourite things." I joked lightly with a smirk and Rory and Jess laughed while Paris quirked her lips at me.

"Well, then you can say that they exposed you to a world you wouldn't have otherwise known. Isn't that what great writing's all about?" Rory added to my argument.

"That was not great writing. That was the National Enquirer of the fifties." Paris disagreed with us and I shook my head at her as I chuckled lightly at her point of view.

"You're cracked." Jess told her.

"Typical guy response. Worship Kerouac and Bukowski, God forbid you'd pick up anything by Jane Austen."

"Hey, I've read Jane Austen." He protested in offence.

"You have?" Paris asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I made him read Pride and Prejudice and Emma." I admitted to her and she smiled at me as I patted Jess on the back.

"Yeah, and I think she would've liked Bukowski." Jess said to Paris as he pointed a fry at her. I picked up a fry from Jess's plate and dipped it into the dip on the table.

"What are you doing?" Paris asked me curiously as she watched me.

"Salt and pepper dip. Only way to eat a fry." Jess told her as if it was obvious before he popped a fry into his mouth as well.

"Really?"

"It's fast food gospel." Rory and I explained at the same time as we both ate a fry. Paris raised an eyebrow at us before smiling and picking up a fry to dip in the sauce. She ate it and her eyes widened in wonder.

"Mm. That's good. That's really, really good." She said to us in awe just as the phone rang.

"You like hot sauce?" Jess asked her as Rory stood up to answer the phone.

"I don't know. Should I?"

"I think it's wise." I told her as I handed her the container of hot sauce. I watched Rory pick up the phone and I watched her curiously as Paris and Jess continued to talk about literature.

"Hello? Oh, hey. Where are you? Oh, well - We just said hi. But, I'm a mess, really. It's not pretty. You won't recognize me. I miss you too, but – But. . .Paris is here. She freaked out about a grade and she wanted to go over some notes, and you know Paris – she will not be denied. Yes, but – "I heard Rory's half of the conversation and frowned because I knew that she was talking to Dean. Rory had told me that Dean didn't like her being friends with Jess. I shook my head as thought about the tangled mess my sister was weaving with the two boys in her life. I turned back to the conversation going on between Jess and Paris as Rory hung up the phone.

"I can't get into poetry. It's kind of like, geez, just say it already, we're dying here." Jess said to Paris and I smirked at his view of poetry then though I loved it.

"Wow, you know, I just noticed the time, and it's getting really late." Rory said as she came back over to the table.

"It's seven o'clock." I told her pointedly because I didn't want her to just get out of the mess she had made too easily.

"I know, but Paris and I still have a lot more studying to do. Jess, please thank Luke for me. It was really nice of him."

"Who was on the phone?" Jess asked her knowingly and I shot him a look that told him he was right in his assumption that it was Dean on the phone.

"No one." She replied hastily and I raised an eyebrow at the obvious lie.

"No one wouldn't happen to be heading over here now, would he?"

"Jess."

"What's going on?" Paris asked us in confusion.

"Nothing."

"Dean's on his way over and Rory doesn't want him to find Jess here." I explained to her casually and Rory shot me a glare.

"Why?" Paris asked Rory.

"Yeah, why?" Jess and I both asked at the same time and then smirked at each other.

"You know why." Rory said to both of us in an exasperated tone.

"We're just eating dinner." Jess said to her and I nodded in agreement. I really didn't like how much control Dean was having over my sister. I felt that she could be friends with whoever she wanted without her boyfriend's permission.

"Jess, I'm asking you as a friend, just please leave now."

"You really want me to go?"

"I really wanna avoid a fight with Dean." Rory said to him.

"Okay, I'm going." Jess said as he stood up from his seat at the table. I stood up from my seat next to him so that I could say goodbye.

"Thank you." My twin said in relief but then Jess pretended to trip on a chair leg and I giggled at him.

"Ow!" he cried out as he clutched his ankle.

"What?"

"Ooh! I just twisted my ankle." He joked as he hopped on one foot and I rushed around to his side.

"You better go lie down." I said as I played along with him and started leading him to Rory's bedroom right off the kitchen.

"Jess! Christa!" Rory exclaimed impatiently and we both came back into the kitchen with smiles on our faces.

"God, you're no fun when you're tense." I pointed out with a pout as I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked towards the front door with Jess and Rory.

"Are you sure you want me to go? 'Cause maybe this whole thing can be solved between me and Dean if we just sat down and had a little heart to heart. He can tell me his issues, I'll tell him mine." Jess suggested to her with a cocky grin and I chuckled lightly at him.

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed again as she pushed him towards the front door.

"I promise I'll speak slowly." He said to her and I laughed at him as I opened the front door.

"Bye!" Rory and I both said at the same time as Rory pushed him out the front door and onto the porch.

"Okay, well, give him my best, would ya?" he said to Rory before turning around and seeing Dean standing on the front lawn with a plastic bag in his hand. I cringed at the awkwardness of the moment and pushed Jess down the stairs because I really didn't want this to hurt my sister. "Actually, I guess I could do that myself."

"Dean, Jess just came by to bring me some food." Rory hurried to explain to her boyfriend as he just glowered at Jess.

"From Luke's." I filled in to the conversation.

"He wanted to make sure I ate."

"Luke did." Jess added.

"Right, Luke did." Rory and I both said.

"Personally, I could care less if she eats."

"Yeah, true, he could care less." Jess said with a shrug.

"Hey! I thought we were friends?" I said to him in mock hurt and he just smirked back at me as I smiled at him.

"I see you brought a little something, too. Is that ice cream? That's so nice. A tiny little ice cream package just big enough for two. Hey, are you guys gonna feed each other 'cause that's just so darn cute. Oops. You're doing that towering over me thing. Huh. I tell you, you've really got that down. It helps that you're twelve feet tall, but this Frankenstein scowl really adds to the whole – "Jess said to Dean as to Dean as he walked towards him on the grass and I had to hold back a laugh because I didn't think that would help the situation.

"Jess." I said warningly but I couldn't help the humour that leaked into my voice.

"Okay, I'm going. Look, man, I really was just dropping off some food, so don't get all West Side Story on me, okay? I'll see ya later, Christa." Jess said to me before he walked down the driveway and headed back to Luke's.

"So, do you wanna. . . "Rory said to Dean but he just walked right by her and into the house which I found quite rude. ". . . come in?" she finished to the air and we both hurried inside to the kitchen where Dean was now and Paris was sitting at the table with a confused frown on her lips.

"What the hell is going on?" dean demanded as Rory and I entered the kitchen. I went to sit down in the seat I had been in during dinner while my twin opted to stay standing.

"Hi." Paris said meekly from her spot at the table and I could tell that she was confused by what was happening.

"Dean, you remember Paris, right?" Rory asked as she gestured towards Paris, who waved slightly.

"Yeah, hi. So Jess just dropped this off, huh?" dean asked Rory and I frowned at the tone of his voice directed at my sister.

"Oh, well. . ."

"Now I know you eat fast, but this is a lot of food to put away that quickly, even on your best day."

"Okay, so he didn't just drop it off but - ."

"You told me you were doing laundry tonight."

"I was."

"And now you are here with Jess."

"And Christ and Paris!"

"Jess, Rory!"

"Ah, well, I swear, I didn't –" Rory started to defend herself.

"You didn't what? You didn't know he was coming over?" dean interrupted her.

"I didn't."

"And you also didn't know he was gonna stay, right?"

"It just happened."

"How does that just happen?"

"Well, he was. . .and the diner, the diner was. . .and I. . ." Rory rambled for the right wording and frowned in sympathy.

"And you what? What? Say something!"

"Stop yelling!" she shouted at him.

"You totally lied to me!"

"I didn't!"

"Turn the situation around, Rory! How's it looking?"

"It's looking complicated and she's trying to explain it to you." I said in my sister's defence as I stood up to go and stand next to her.

"Ugh, that's crap." He said to both of us and I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly.

"It's my fault." Paris declared loudly and the three of us turned to look at her. She stood up from the table and moved around it so that she stood next to Rory and me in silent reinforcement.

"What?" Dean asked her dumbfounded.

"It's my fault that Jess was here. I saw him in the diner the day I came to Stars Hollow and I thought he was cute and since I'm not great at the whole 'batting the eyelashes, look at my belly shirt' kind of thing, I asked Rory and Christa to help me. I thought if they could maybe get him over here, we'd have a chance to talk and. . .I don't know, it seems totally stupid now and it obviously didn't work – shock, but that's why he was here. Thanks for trying to cover for me." she said tome and Rory and I smiled at her gratefully while Rory looked shocked for a second.

"That's okay." I told her since Rory seemed to be having trouble speaking.

"Anyway, I should get going. I'm probably gonna break out in some sort of rash any second now." Paris said to us before leaving the kitchen to get her things.

"So Paris likes Jess?" Dean asked Rory and I frowned at dean before I decided to follow Paris into the living room.

"What was that?" I asked Paris softly as I walked into the living room and saw her cleaning up her study material.

"What?" she asked me as I sunk down on the couch.

"That, the story, the save? You helped Rory. Why would you do that?" I asked her curiously as I stretched my arms over my head.

"I don't know, it just came out." She admitted with a shrug and I smiled at her.

"You have no idea what you did."

"It was no big deal."

"No, it was a very big deal. It was a huge deal." I told her and she looked over at me.

"Well, Rory helped me tonight when she didn't want to, so I owed her."

"Thank you. I know Rory doesn't deal well with conflict." I said to her with a chuckle and she smiled back at me lightly.

"You're welcome. Okay, well, I'll let you get back to your and Rory's alone night." Paris said as she stood up from the floor with her bag.

"You should stay." I said to her randomly.

"Stay?" she repeated back to me dumbfounded with the notion.

"Yeah. We could hang out, maybe watch some TV. You can even spend the night if you don't wanna drive all the way back to Hartford."

"Spend the night, like a slumber party?"

"Sort of." I admitted with a shrug of my shoulders.

"You're just doing this because I lied to Dean for you and Rory, right?"

"I'm doing this because it's what you do with friends." I corrected her pointedly with a smirk.

"We're friends?" Paris asked me, astonished.

"I'm not sure if there is an exact definition for what we are, but I do think it falls somewhere in the bizarro friends-ish realm. Come on, stay." I urged her with a smile.

"Okay. But if you're doing all this so you can freeze my bra, I'll kill you."

"Duly noted." I said in mock seriousness before breaking out in a grin and standing up from the couch. "I'm going to get the ice-cream!"

* * *

Rory, mom and I were sitting at the table at Luke's the next morning for breakfast discussing what mom and Emily got up to at the spa that weekend.

"You actually got Grandma to steal a bathrobe?" I asked her in awe as I sipped me coffee and mom nodded her head at me enthusiastically.

"Although I did catch her trying to return it while I was getting the car." Mom relented with a shrug.

"Still." Rory said to her in the same impressed tone that I had used.

"I know, life with my mother, one step forward, five thousand steps back. It's kinda like the spastic polka."

"Excuse me, are you done?" Kirk asked us as he came up to the table's edge.

"No, uh, sorry, not yet." I told him politely.

"So, you're gonna eat that half a piece of bacon that's been sitting there for ten minutes?" he asked me and I frowned up at him.

"I can't eat with people watching me like a zoo animal." I told him pointedly as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Kirk." Mom said to him warningly.

"I mean, of course, you must be if you're saying you're not done because that's the only thing left in front on you, unless you eat plates." Kirk continued to say to us and mom and I shared an amused look.

"Go away." We said in unison.

"You are hogging the table."

"You keep it up, I'm ordering seconds." Mom threatened him with a smirk on her lips.

"Fine." He grumbled and then walked away from us.

"So, Paris looked a little green this morning." Mom commented to us as she turned back.

"Yeah, she had a sugar/carb hangover of monumental proportions." I informed her as I sipped the rest of my coffee.

"People don't realize it, but it takes years of training to be able to eat the way we do."

"Don't I know it." Rory said in understanding as I smirked in agreement.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" mom asked us.

"I have to head back to Boston after breakfast. I'm meant to be going on a date tonight." I told them happily.

"Let's see. Dean, Dean, and uh. . .oh, did I mention Dean?" Rory said to us sarcastically.

"Wow, he must've been crazy mad last night." mom said in sympathy.

"I'd say that was a fair assessment." I acknowledged with a deep nod.

"Okay, I gotta get to the inn." Mom said to us and I smiled at her as she pulled me into a hug. "Drive safe, baby."

"I will, mom. Love you."

"Love you, too." She said as she kissed my cheek before standing up.

"Okay. Well, I'm probably gonna have dinner with Dean, so. . ." Rory said to our mother as she stood up as well.

"I'll have the house to myself tonight. Life's funny, isn't it?" mom quipped as I stood up as well.

"I simply cannot stop laughing." Rory said to her. "I'll get the check."

"Thanks, twin." I told them as I chuckled.

"Thanks hon." Mom added and then we both walked out of the diner as Rory approached the counter.

"Bye, mommy." I said in a childlike voice as I frowned at her. Mom laughed at me and pulled me into another tight hug.

"Bye, offspring." She whispered in my ear and I giggled at her before pulling away with grin. I kissed her cheek and made my way over to my car. I turned around and waved at my mother one more time before climbing in the driver seat and saw Rory and Jess conversing at the counter in the diner. I smirked to myself as I thought about the underlining sexual tension between my twin sister and my friend. It was only a matter of time before they stop fighting it.


	10. Flashback 2

**2.06 Presenting Lorelai Gilmore:**

I was standing with mom and my twin sister Rory in front of our grandparents Emily and Richard's house on a Friday. Mom and I were huddled together as far away from the door as we could get because we really didn't want to go inside the house of horrors.

"You two are acting like babies." Rory scolded us as she rolled her baby blue eyes at us. I gripped mom's arm as she wrapped her other arm around my shoulders in a mock attempt to comfort me.

"No we're not." I whined to her in a baby voice.

"Pwease don't make us go inside." Mom added in a babyish voice of her own and Rory shook her head at us before pressing the doorbell. I frowned in disappointment as mom and I stood up straight and waited for the door to open. A frazzled looking maid pulled open the front door and we smiled at her gently in sympathy.

"Yes?" the maid asked us with wide eyes.

"Hey." Mom said to her.

"Hello."

"You're new."

"Uh, I started yesterday." The maid said shakily and I nodded in understanding.

"What's your name?" I asked her politely.

"Liesel."

"Okay, Liesel. I'm Brigitte, this is Gretel and Helga. And, uh, Emily and Richard are expecting us." mom introduced us jokingly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please come in." the maid, Liesel apologised as she opened the door wider and the three of us walked inside and immediately heard Richard and Emily arguing upstairs. "Uh, can I, uh, get you a drink?" Liesel asked us nervously as we followed her into the living room.

"You know what, that's okay. I can get it. Why don't you go hide in the kitchen?" I offered her compassionately and Rory and mom nodded at her as well.

"Really? Thank you." She said hurriedly and then practically ran out of the home while I smirked at her retreating figure.

"What is going on?" Rory asked us as if we were meant to know.

"I don't know. I think George and Martha are joining us for dinner." Mom responded as we watched Richard and Emily walk down the stairs part way, still fighting.

"I didn't know that my every conversation needed to be reported to you. I stand corrected." Richard said to his wife.

"I have been the co-chair of the Starlight Foundation for the last eight years." Emily told him pointedly.

"I know this, Emily."

"And the Black and White Ball is the main fundraising event of the season."

"It's one year."

"The co-chair cannot miss the main fundraising event."

"Why? Won't the chair be there?"

"Is this a joke to you?"

"Emily, I have too many things to take care of at work. I don't have time for frivolous parties."

"Frivolous parties? Friv. . . ." Emily spluttered at him before storming back up the steps.

"Well, where are you going? Oh, come back here." Richard said to her before following her upstairs.

"Wow, this is bad." Rory said warily in concern.

"I know, I wish we had popcorn." Mom said with grin on her lips.

"And milk duds." I added with a smirk in my mother's direction.

"Mom. Christa." My twin scolded us but I could see the smile peeking out.

"Shh. Incoming." Mom said to us as she frantically hit our arms for us to be quiet. I watched the stairway, transfixed as Emily and Richard came back down the steps. I frowned at them when I saw a stack of invitations in Emily's hand.

"The Hartford Zoological Silent Auction, the Mark Twain House Restoration Fund luncheon, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Literacy Auction." Emily read off of the invites in her hand.

"I can read those myself, you know." Richard pointed out to her.

"This is the fourth event you've taken upon yourself to turn down on our behalf. And I am on the board of all of those foundations. Now how do you think that makes me look?"

"Like your husband is busy and has a great deal of responsibility."

"Well, I have responsibilities too."

"I understand that your social engagements are important."

"They're not just social engagements."

"Anything at which you serve tea is a social engagement."

"That's it. I am gonna get a tape recorder so you can hear how pompous and condescending you sound."

"Wha...uh...Emily."

"No, I wouldn't want you to take my word for it. I might be delirious from all that tea I've been drinking." Emily said dramatically before walking back up the stairs as the three of us watched wide eyed.

"Oh stop this." Richard begged her as he followed her back up the steps.

"Maybe we should leave." Rory suggested hesitantly and I scoffed at her.

"Normally id be all for leaving, but come on." I said in disbelief.

"Serious, are you kidding? We've got dinner theatre here." Mom added to my argument.

"But Grandma and Grandpa are obviously in a fight." Rory pointed out and mom and I looked at her incredulously.

"Yeah?" we asked her at the same time.

"One that they probably wouldn't want us to see."

"Hey, we stumbled in here completely innocently. We came for dinner as usual, per their request." I defended us with my hand held up in surrender.

"We had no idea we were walking into The Lion King without the puppet heads." Mom told Rory with a smirk and I giggled at her. My focus was drawn to the stairs as Richard came down them with Emily following him as she held out a tape recorder.

"Get that thing out of my face." Richard told her as I smothered a laugh with my hand.

"Just say the tea thing again." Emily urged him.

"You are behaving like a child."

"Turn around when you talk, would you? I'm not sure how good this microphone is."

"Oh." Richard said as he turned and saw mom, Rory and I waiting in the living room.

"What?" Emily asked him before following his gaze over to the three of us. Mom and I stood up from the couch and started slowly clapping at them with bright smiles on our faces.

"Brava! Encore!" I cried out to them as I clapped.

"I'm sorry, does Terrence McNally know about you too? Get me the phone!" mom added as Emily and Richard looked embarrassed.

* * *

I was in Star Hollow visiting mom and Rory from Boston and we had gone to Luke's diner for breakfast just like they did every morning. I was drinking my coffee as mom read over Rory's homework at the counter.

"It sucks. I know it sucks, just tell me it sucks." Rory said to mom in a child-like voice. I rolled my eyes at her melodramatics. She was worried that her homework wasn't an A like normal.

"It's great." Mom told her honestly and I knew that she was being sincere because I had already read the assignment earlier due to my twins begging.

"No it's not."

"It's an A."

"Don't lie."

"A-plus."

"You're my mom."

"Is anything higher than an A-plus?" mom asked me with a curious frown on her lips.

"You have to say that." Rory protested as she took the paper off of our mother.

"It's an A-plus with a crown and a wand." I told her sarcastically and she just glared at me.

"This is not how you raise a child. You don't send them out there with a false sense of pride because out there, in the real world, no one will coddle you. I'd rather know right now if I'm gonna be working at CNN or carrying a basket around its offices with sandwiches in it." Rory ranted to mom and I lifted an eyebrow at her abilities.

"Rory." I said her name seriously and she looked at me with wide unguarded eyes.

"Yeah?"

"It's great." I told her honestly with a smile and she grinned back at me.

"Really?" she asked both me and mom.

"Really really." Mom assured her with a grin of her own.

"Thank you." She said to us as I gave her a side-hug. Luke walked over to where we were sitting and refilled our mugs with coffee.

"Coffee, coffee, coffee. Okay, what do you want? Eggs, toast, combo?" Luke asked us in a rush and I frowned up at him.

"What's the rush there, Zippy?" I asked him.

"I'm just swamped this morning. I was supposed to have help but I don't. So order right now or I'm bringing the both of you an egg white omelette with a side of steamed spinach." He threatened and all three of us gasped in panic.

"Pancakes." Mom spat out quickly.

"French toast." Rory and I ordered at the same time.

"Thank you." Luke said to us just as a dark haired teenage guy came down the stairs from Luke apartment. "Jess, you were supposed to be down here. . . .what the hell is that?" Luke asked him in horror. I looked over at the pair with interest and tilted my head the side as I watched them. Mom and Rory had both told me about how Luke's nephew Jess had come to live with him but I hadn't had the chance to meet him yet.

"What?" the guy, Jess asked in confusion.

"That." Luke said as he pointed to Jess' Metallica t-shirt.

"That is a shirt."

"Change." Luke demanded sternly.

"What?"

"Go upstairs and change your shirt."

"I like this shirt." Jess protested with a frown.

"It would look better on the floor." I muttered to Rory and she giggled at my comment which caught Jess's attention. He looked over at the three of us who were watching the exchange from the counter.

"Who are you?" he asked me rudely as he nodded his head in my direction. I raised an eyebrow at him from my seat and smirked a little.

"I'm Christa. Daughter of Lorelai, sister of Rory." I introduced myself and he frowned in confusion.

"I thought you were in Boston?" he asked me and I shrugged as I sipped my coffee.

"And now I'm not." I replied easily and he just nodded at me.

"How can you like that shirt?" Luke asked Jess, getting back to the pervious conversation.

"It brings out my eyes." Jess responded sarcastically and I laughed out loud, making him smirk.

"Hey, part of the deal of you staying here is that you work here, and when you work here you will wear proper work attire, and that is not proper work attire. Now go upstairs and change into something that won't scare the hell out of my customers."

"Whatever you say Uncle Luke." Jess said in a voice filled with contempt before he turned and went back upstairs to the apartment.

"Gross shirt." Mom commented after he had left.

"Yeah." Rory and I agreed at the same time.

"Good band." Rory said to us.

"Oh yeah." Mom and I agreed at the same time as I nodded as well.

"Hot guy." I added and mom grimaced at me while Rory giggled into her coffee cup, making me smile and wink at her knowingly.

* * *

I was texting on my phone at the kitchen table while mom did homework for her business class at community college when Rory came storming into the house, slamming the front door behind her.

"I'm coming out." Rory announced as she came into the kitchen.

"We're here, we're queer. Get used to it!" I said as I raised a fist in the air without looking away from my phone. Mom playfully smacked my arm as she turned to face my sister.

"Out of what?" mom asked her curiously.

"Out into society." Rory explained and I dropped my phone on the table as I turned to face her with a horrified expression on my face.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her as mom just stared at her in horror.

"I went to Grandma's house after school."

"Okay, right away, bad." Mom said to her as she turned to face her fully.

"And, um, her DAR friends are all there and they're talking about this debutante ball that's being thrown."

"Oh no." mom and I said at the same time.

"And when I got back from Grandpa's office, they all invited me out onto the patio."

"No no no, please tell me you did not go out onto the patio." Mom begged her helplessly.

"I went out onto the patio."

"Ugh, Rory, that's like accepting the position as the drummer in Spinal Tap." I informed her with a sympathetic frown.

"Before I knew it, Grandma was telling me how important it is for a person to be properly presented to society."

"Ugh." Mom and I groaned in unison.

"And how every young girl dreams of this day."

"Agh." Mom groaned.

"Not true." I told her as I grimaced.

"And how there are flowers." Rory continued.

"Oh Lord." Mom said as I pretended to gag.

"And music."

"Please." Mom scoffed at the thought and I just shook my head.

"And cake."

"Oh yeah, the cake's actually good." Mom said with a fond smile.

"And the lobster puffs." I reminded her and moaned in pleasure as mom nodded eagerly.

"And before I knew it, Grandma was bringing out your old dress and I was trying it on and. . . what are you doing?" Rory asked as she noticed mom standing up from her seat at the table.

"I'm getting you out of this." Mom said as if it was obviously as she picked up the phone.

"Mom, wait."

"I swear, there is nothing in the world my mother is better at than getting someone to agree to something that in any other universe, they would never ever consider."

"Mom."

"I am still convinced she had something to do with Lily Tomlin doing that movie with John Travolta."

"I'm doing this."

"Why?"

"Because you should've seen the look on Grandma's face when she asked me. It's just really really important to her."

"But. . ."

"Now if it's that important to her, and it's not that important to me, then why shouldn't I do it?"

"Rory, do you know what a coming out party says?"

"It says I'm a woman now."

"No. It says, 'Hi, I'm Rory. I'm of good breeding and marriageable age, and I will now parade around in front of young men of similarly good breeding and marriageable age so they can all take a good long look at me.'"

"You're exaggerating."

"No, it's like animals being up for bid at the county fair, except sheep don't wear hoop skirts."

"Look, I promised, but you don't have to be a part of it if you don't want to."

"No, no, if you wanna do it, I'll help. It's just weird. This is all the stuff I ran away from. I just assumed you'd be running with me."

"Well, I would, but I heard debutantes don't run. Something about the heels."

"Eh, you learn how to run when in heels when you're drunk, it's super easy sober." I informed her with a smirk as mom shook her head at me. "I don't know what the big deal is. I had a coming out party." I said with a shrug and they both turned to look at me in shock.

"You did?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah, last year. Gran asked me to and I couldn't be bothered saying no. It was okay. Good cake. Good lobster puffs. Hot date."

"All right then. If you're sure, where do we start? Uh, let's see. Well, you have a dress. You need a dowry, I guess. There you go. And uh, you'll need shoes, hose, gloves, some mice, a dog, a pumpkin. What's wrong?" mom asked Rory when she noticed her frowning.

"Oh, nothing." She tried to evade the question.

"Rory." I said sternly.

"Oh, no, it just says that your father is supposed to present you at the ceremony."

"Oh." Mom said in understanding as I frowned.

"Whatever, it's no big deal. I can get someone else to do it. Grandpa probably. Or Taylor. Or the cable guy looked pretty friendly last week. Maybe he has a tux."

"Hand me the phone." I ordered mom as I held out my hand for it.

"I was kidding about the cable guy. What are you doing?" Rory asked me as I dialled a number by memory.

"Look missy, there are plenty of things that should weird you out about coming out, but inviting your father shouldn't be one of them." I told her as I smiled at her reassuringly and held the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I heard a familiar voice answer the phone after the third ring. I smirked into the phone as I stood up and walked into the living room so that mom and Rory wouldn't hear the conversation.

"Hi. Where the hell are you?" I asked my father because I knew that he was on a business trip at the moment. That was the main reason I was staying at mom's house.

"Boston." He answered me and I could hear the smirk in his voice over the line.

"Boston?" I parroted back to him in confusion because I thought he was away.

"Yeah, Boston. Baked Beans, cream pie, tea party, strangler."

"Oh, that Boston."

"And you?"

"Helsinki." I replied cheekily.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I finally got the girl band together and after a week opening stateside, we headed across the Atlantic and now we're huge with the Nordic set." I joked and he chuckled lightly at me.

"It's good to hear from you. We haven't talked in a while."

"You could've called too, you know. Or do you have one of those special phones that only receives calls? Plus, it's only been three days."

"Stop Cliff's Note-ing my pain." He scolded me playfully and I giggled at him.

"So I have some shocking news. Rory's coming out." I told me in amusement.

"Out of what?" he asked me in confusion.

"Coming out. White dresses, gloves, curtsies."

"Stop it."

"I swear to God."

"I can't believe your mom's letting her do it." Dad said in shock.

"Oh, well, she wasn't about to let her use her method of getting out of it. Anyway, I came out." I reminded him pointedly.

"This is crazy."

"She's doing it as a favour to my Emily, there's no talking her out of it."

"Well, did you tell her about Barbara Hutton, Doris Duke, Gloria Vanderbilt?"

"Yes, and she's perfectly willing to marry Cary Grant, get offed by her crazy butler and start designing blue jeans as soon as the ball ends." I quipped with a smile and he chuckled at me.

"Well, okay, if that's what she wants." He said reluctantly and I took a deep breath.

"Now comes the reason for my phone call."

"All your regular 976 numbers are busy." He joked but I couldn't laugh at the moment because this was too serious.

"Now I know this is totally not your thing, but as you will remember, part of the whole coming out process involves the girls being escorted around the dance floor by their Dads." I reminded him pointedly.

"Ah."

"Now, I know you would rather sit through "Endless Love" than ever be a part of this scene again. But this is very important to your other daughter and she has never asked you for anything, and although no one's keeping track, it would seem that your constant non-presence in her life and your lack of ever showing up when you say you're going to or calling when you say you're going to or basically doing anything when you say you're going to would tend to indicate that you owe her, big time. Now before you say no, I want you to take a minute and remember you have a great daughter who needs you and she has a mother who will hunt you down like a half-priced Kate Spade purse if you disappoint her, as well as a twin sister that lives with you and well smother you to death in your sleep." I threatened him seriously although I already knew that he would do this for Rory.

"Okay, I'm there." He told me as he laughed at my threat.

"By there, do you mean the Daughters of the American Revolution Annual Debutante Ball?" I asked him to clarify.

"Yes."

"Oh Dad, please don't make this promise if you can't."

"I wouldn't miss it."

"It's next weekend."

"I'll clear my schedule."

"You swear?"

"Oh wait, next weekend?" he asked mockingly and I scoffed.

"Dad!" I said sternly.

"I'm kidding, I will definitely be there." He assured me and I sighed in relief.

"Okay, and in exchange for that I will refrain from saying the ten things that came to mind for making fun of your schedule." I said playfully and he laughed.

"Thanks."

"Bye. I'll text you later." I said with a smile.

"Bye." He said before he hung up the phone and I sighed again before closing my eye and leaning my head against the couch. I heard two sets of footsteps coming into the living room from the kitchen so I opened my eyes and smiled at Rory and mom as they came in.

"Hey Little Debbie, dad is definitely gonna be there." I said to Rory as she came and sat down next to me on the couch while mom leaned on the banister near the stairs.

"You're kidding!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"No, he's gonna walk you down the stairs, and turn you in a circle, watch you curtsy, and announce that Rory Gilmore is officially open for business." I joked with a smirk as she and mom chuckled.

"I can't believe it. And he definitely said definitely?"

"Definitely."

"So there's a fifty/fifty chance." Mom said lightly in a joking manner but we all knew that she was serious.

"I don't know. He sounded pretty sure, I'd say sixty/forty." I said in the same tone.

* * *

I had gone back home to Boston because I had to go to school during the week but I came back with dad the weekend of Rory's debutante ball. I grinned at dad as we got closer to mom and Rory's house and leaned over to honk the horn on his new car.

"We needed to be announced?" dad asked me in amusement as he glanced at me from the corner of his eyes and I giggled.

"Well, we are heading to a debutante ball, dad." I joked as I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled at me. He parked the car out the front of my mother and sister's house and I smiled when I saw Rory run out of the house with mom following her more slowly. I jumped out of the car and dad climbed out as well.

"Dad!" Rory called as she ran at dad.

"Mom!" I called at the same time as Rory as I ran at my mom. Mom grinned at me as she wrapped me into a hug.

"Whoa! Hold it right there. A lady never runs out to meet a gentleman caller who hasn't been announced." I heard dad say to Rory behind me.

"Sorry, we haven't tamed my wild ways yet." Rory replied to him.

"Don't worry, Ror. My debutante ball was last year and I'm still wild beyond belief." I informed her with a smirk as I pulled away from mom and looked over at my twin.

"Thank God I'm here now." Dad said to Rory as they both shook their head at me.

"What is this?" mom asked him as she looked over at the Volvo that we had arrived in. mom and I walked closer to dad and Rory so that we were all on the grass.

"What? Oh my God, where did this come from?" dad asked sarcastically and I rolled my eyes at him as I linked my arm through Rory's.

"What happened to your bike?"

"A crazy game of key exchange at the car wash." I joked with a smile and they all smiled at me.

"This is a car." Mom stated the obvious.

"Yes it is." Dad replied slowly as if he were speaking to a child.

"It has four wheels and a roof and airbags and seat belts and my God, it smells like a forest." She exclaimed as she smelt the interior of the car.

"Well, I needed a little more space. Had something big to haul. I believe this belongs to you." Dad said as he opened up the trunk and pulled out something. He handed Rory the box that he pulled out of the trunk with a smirk on his lips.

"The Compact Oxford English Dictionary!" my sister exclaimed happily as she opened the box in her hands.

" I promised you I'd get it. I'm just sorry it took so long."

"That's okay."

"On the bright side, this is the new edition. If he'd gotten you the old one, you wouldn't have the word 'jiggy' in it." I told her playfully as she beamed at me.

"Thank you. I love it, I'm gonna go look things up right now." Rory said to him with grin on her face.

"Go." dad said to her and she ran right inside the house as I rolled my eyes at her studious habits.

"That was really great of you." Mom praised dad with a smile.

"Thank you. So back to mocking my car?" he asked us with a smile and mom and I both grin at each other.

"Oh yeah. A Volvo sedan, are you kidding?" mom asked him incredulously.

"This is a great car."

"For driving to bingo." I told him as I leaned against the hood.

"Well, it just seemed like time. I couldn't keep showing up for work on my bike."

"Work?" mom asked him in surprise.

"You've heard of it."

"Yes, but I didn't think you had."

"Well, it took a while. I kept getting it mixed up with nap, but I finally figured it out."

"So, you bought a car and got a job?"

"Actually, job then car." I corrected her with a smirk.

"Oh, 'cause it's more responsible that way." She said back to me with a smirk of her own.

"Exactly." I said with a wink.

"Wow, so tell me about the job." Mom said to dad.

"Well, I show up every day, drink bad coffee, exchange lame pleasantries in the break room with Linda from marketing, and then at the end of two weeks they give me a pay check. It's a pretty cool system." He said to her with a shrug.

"You're serious?"

"Well, you know how us working types are. Get in." he said as he gestured to the car.

"Well uh. . .I'm not supposed to take rides with strangers." Mom joked with him.

"Trust me." I told her as I climbed in the back of the car and dad climbed in the driver's seat.

"Yes, but only if you promise we won't go over 25 miles an hour on the motorway." She said as she climbed into the passenger seat and dad turned up the music so that it was loud. "Oh my God, George Lucas wishes he had this sound system."

"I've got Alpine head units, two subs, and two twelves. In exchange, no passenger-side airbag." He told her with a smirk and I chuckled.

"Ah, so the old Christopher still lives." Mom replied just as Rory leaned into the car window, scaring all of us.

"Could you please attenuate the cacophony out here?" she asked us as we all frowned in confusion.

"Huh?" we all asked her at the same time and she reached into the car and adjusted the volume so that it turned down.

"Turn down the music." She said and then she skipped back inside the house.

"Next time instead of a dictionary, just slip her a crisp twenty." I suggested to dad as I leaned in between the two front seats.

"Deal." He responded to me with a smirk and mom laughed at me.

* * *

Mom, Rory and I walked into the ballroom and looked around in awe at the giant room that was all decked out with flowers and tulle.

"Wow, this place is huge. Do I have to walk down those stairs?" Rory asked us in horror.

"Oh, I'm afraid so." Mom told her sympathetically.

"Unless you wanna make a really memorable entrance and just slide down the banister." I joked with her as I made a sliding motion with my hand.

"Which I totally encourage, by the way." Mom added with a smirk. A middle aged woman with too much Botox stalked over to us with a glower and mom and I took an immediate step backwards.

"You are…" she started to sat in a haughty tone.

"Lorelai Gilmore." Rory informed her with a polite smile.

"Late." The woman finished sternly.

"Sorry, my fault. Took me awhile to get pretty. Not all of us are sixteen anymore, you know what I mean?" mom asked as she gestured between me and Rory. At the woman's continued hard stare, mom backed down. "No."

"You are to head up the stairs. The preparation room is on the right." The woman told Rory before throwing a brief glance at me and mom before walking away.

"Look for the toxic cloud of Chanel and Final Net." I said as I pretended to touch the air around us and they both laughed at me. Rory started walking towards the stairs but at the bottom she turned and looked back at us. I smiled at her reassuringly while mom mouthed the word 'smile' to her. Once Rory was out of our view, mom grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the bar.

"I need alcohol." She muttered and I smirked at her as I allowed her to pull me with her. a few minutes later, we were at the bar and watching as the bartender made mom a drink.

"What is the likelihood of you letting me have a drink?" I asked her with a thoughtful expression and she smirked at me.

"Not very." She replied and I nodded at her as the bartender handed her a drink. "You are a wonderful, wonderful man. I have a feeling we're going to be very close tonight." She said to him with a smile and he smiled back at her. I looked at the young bartender who couldn't have been more than 22 and smiled at him flirtingly when he glanced at me. I bit my bottom lip seductively while my mother wasn't looking and he winked at me. "Hmm. Mom, you're here." I heard mom say and I looked over to where Emily was approaching us.

"And that is my cue to leave." I muttered to mom and she patted my arm in acknowledgement before I left the bar. About ten minutes later, I decided to go back to the bar and see if flirting with the bartender would get me either free alcohol or someone to make out with but the only people at the bar were my parents.

"Okay, I think this is a really good time for a martini. Hello. Thirsty people here." I heard dad say as I approached the bar and saw mom going behind the bar.

"Ah, what are you doing?" I asked her as I leaned on the counter next to dad as I watched mom making her drink.

"Steve won't mind." Mom assured us with a wave of her hand and I made a mental note of the bartenders name.

"Little tip. Never a good idea to let people know you're on a first name basis with the bartender. Wow, this is really something." Dad said to her with a smile as I looked around the room for the hot bartender.

"What?" mom asked him curiously.

"You and I together at a debutante ball."

"Huh, yeah."

"Just like it would've been sixteen years ago."

"Fancy dress." Mom said with a fond smile on her lips.

"Parents acting crazy." Dad added with a smile of his own.

"Sneaking booze." I interjected with a chuckle and they both laughed as well.

"You look great." Dad complimented her.

"I'm so glad you're here." Mom told him sincerely.

"So am I."

"All fathers please report to the debutante staging area upstairs. Fathers to the staging area." An announcer said over the loud speaker.

"Showtime. You gonna be all right?" dad asked me and I smiled at him reassuringly.

"Absolutely." I answered him and he pecked me on the cheek.

"I'll see you later." He said as he started walking away.

"Curtsy pretty." I called to him loudly and mom laugh out loud form across the bar. Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek as she left to go and sit at the table but I decided to stay the hell away from Emily and Richard for as long as I could.

"Good evening. On behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution, I would like to welcome you to our annual debutante ball. Oh this brings back so many memories. I myself came out in this very hall in nineteen…well, let's just say, a number of years ago. Now the word debutante comes from the French word debuter, which means to lead off. . ." the lady at the top of the stairs started her speech but I just rolled my eyes and tuned her out. I glanced over at the bar and saw the cute bartender back at the bar and smirked to myself. He glanced up and caught my eye so I smiled back at him saucily. He winked at me and I giggled as I looked away from him with a grin on my lips.

"Elizabeth Dotie, daughter of George Edward Dotie the fourth, and Elenor Dotie." I heard the woman say as I tuned back in to what she was saying. I watched in boredom as a girl walked down the stairs and into the arms of her escort. The woman paused before reading the next name. I smiled when I saw Rory and dad at the top of the staircase. "Lorelai Gilmore, daughter of Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore." The woman announced and I clapped as dad and Rory walked down the stairs as dean waited at the bottom. Dad kissed Rory's hand as Rory curtsied before dad walked away and dean walked his girlfriend the rest of the way down the aisle. I smiled at my sister before I glanced over at the table where my family was. I decided that I didn't really want to go over there so instead I made my way over to the bar. I smiled at the bartender as I approached and he stopped what he was doing to watch me. I leaned my stomach on the bar top so that my cleavage was easily visible as I leaned closer and he met me half way so that I could whisper in his ear.

"I think it's time for your break, don't you?" I whispered to him seductively and he grinned at me before nodding. I bit my bottom lip and led him out of the room by the hand as I looked over my shoulder so that no one saw us.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, Readers!**

**I am so sorry for the long wait! My laptop decided that it didn't like me anymore… But luckily, we have made up now! **

**To apologise for my lack for posting I've decided to give one luck reader a chance to have a cameo in the next chapter…**

**Excited yet?**

**To win just be the first to person to PM me your name or even just a name you like if that's what you choose.**

**ALSO! Just a little BTW, I graduated high school! Sorry, I know you guys don't really care. Like at all. But I'm gonna tell anybody who will listen so suck it up… **

- **BehindGrayEyes xx**

* * *

**The Perfect Dress:**

Mom, Rory and I walked into Luke's diner with a handful of shopping bags each after our weekend away in Atlantic City.

"Oh, my God. Look who's back." Mom exclaimed happily when she saw her fiancé standing near the counter and Luke turned around to face us with a half-smile.

"Well, I believe it's those adorable Gilmore Girls." Rory added to our mother's antics with a smile of her own.

"My, how we have missed them." I said in a wistful voice as I linked my arm through Rory's.

"I hear they're different now." Rory said as she looked at me with a fond smile and I mirrored her expression.

"A little sad."

"A little broke." Mom added as Luke walked up to the three of us.

"Don't you three believe in jet lag?" he asked us in amusement.

"No way. We're still flying on the Atlantic City buzz. Hey, handsome." Mom greeted him with a kiss on the lips that Rory and I shared a happy glance at. "Were you bad while I was gone?"

"I was. I went to bed every night at 10:15."

"Grandpa! What am we gonna do with you?" I teased him as I gave him a hug in greeting.

"Hey, Luke." Rory said as well as she also hugged our so-to-be stepfather.

"Hey, Rory." He replied as we all started walking over to a vacant table near the windows that faced the town square.

"We, on the other hand, have not been to bed at all since we left." Mom explained to Luke as she directed the conversation away from our greetings.

"We did fall over once, though." Rory informed him.

"Did you have a good trip?" Luke asked us about our trip to Atlantic City.

"The view was nice but landing on the concrete hurt like a son of a bitch." I joked with a cheekily smile and we all chuckled.

"I believe it was the best belated 21st-birthday party on record." Rory answered him truthfully as we all sat down at the table and one of the waiters brought over three cups of coffee. We all smiled at them gratefully and then I took a greedy sip of the heavenly liquid

"What's different?" I wondered out loud in confusion as I inspected the coffee.

"No Kahlua." Rory reminded me and I nodded in agreement as I took another sip.

"Which reminds me." Mom exclaimed before turning in her seat to face Luke. "Sorry about all the drunken late-night phone calls."

"What drunken late-night phone calls?"

"Uh, so, um, do you want to hear about all the things we can tell you about our trip?" mom said hastily to try and get out of an awkward situation while I giggled into my coffee cup.

"I'm not sure." Luke answered her hesitantly and I had to admire that he knew the three of us well enough to be actually be hesitant.

"OK, well first of all, video poker is my calling. I think I'm totally gonna dedicate my life to it. Especially the third machine in the second row of machines as you hit the entrance of Trump Taj Mahal."

"I'm more of a roulette girl myself." Rory added to the story.

"I'm a straight up Poker girl. It's really easy to win when you distract the other player by talking incessantly." I told him matter-of-factly.

"And we did the whole thing up right, you know. We did the martinis at the blackjack table." Mom continued like she hadn't been interrupted.

"And we pretended we were turning 21 while we were playing 21." Rory said with a smile.

"And we actually won and bought our 21 items."

"Shot glasses, glow-in-the-dark coasters, salt and pepper shakers, pasties." I listed some of the things we had bought.

"Oh, and look." Mom exclaimed as she reached into one of the bags and pulled out a piece of paper that she handed over to Luke.

"What's that?" he asked us in confusion.

"21 guys' phone numbers."

"I must say I'm pretty proud of how quickly we got them and also of the fact that no one questioned us when we said our names were Wendy, Lisa and Gretchen." I pondered out loud and mom and Rory nodded in agreement with me.

"Uh, huh. So, tell me, how was Paul Anka, the person, not the dog?" Luke asked us as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"We didn't get to see him." Mom told him sadly.

"Why not? It's all you talked about."

"The billboard was old and his show had actually closed a week before we got there."

"So, who'd you end up seeing?"

"Well, it came down to Journey without their original lead singer, INXS without their original lead singer, Queen without their original lead singer, the Supremes without Diana, and, weirdly, the James Brown band without James Brown."

"But we wound up seeing Tony Danza, who was sublime." Rory told him happily and I clapped my hands together.

"Oh, the tap dancing. Why "Taxi" never utilized his musical-comedy skills is astonishing." I exclaimed as I put my now empty coffee cup on the table.

"Sounds great." Luke told us with an indulgent smile on his lips even though I knew dancing so wasn't his thing.

"Oh, and we snagged you a Paul Anka T-shirt." Mom said happily as she pulled out a T-shirt from one of her bags.

"Had some left over. I got Colin one too." I said to him with a smile.

"Wear it tonight." Mom ordered him in an overly-seductive fake voice.

"OK. I'm making you burgers." Luke said as he took the shirt from her and tried to stand up.

"Wait, wait. You haven't seen the best part yet."

"What?"

"Oh! We were walking..." Rory said giddily to him.

"Well, sort of walking, sort of drunk girls in high heels stumbling." I corrected her with a grimace.

" ...down the street, and we see this guy." She continued her story.

"And, Luke, my hand to God, it's you." Mom told him and I grinned at the surprise on his face.

"It's totally you. Luke 2.0."

"We came face-to-face with your doppelganger, my friend." I exclaimed as I clapped my hands together.

"So we followed him." Rory said with a shrug of her shoulders and I nodded along with her.

"Yeah, 'cause we had to. And he went into this nightclub, so we followed him." Mom continued with the recount.

"'Cause we're now stalkers obsessed with getting his picture." I told him matter-of-factly.

"So we follow him through this kinda grungy place. And he goes backstage."

"'Cause he's in the biz." Rory informed Luke with a dismissive wave of her hand.

" Yeah. So we sneak behind the curtain, and we track him down. And we told him all about you, and then I showed him your picture, and he totally freaked out."

"Wait I got it." I said as I turned to look through one of the bags at my feet. I grabbed the photograph and handed it to Luke with a cheeky grin. "Luke, I want you to meet Derek McKinney, your twin separated at birth."

"This is a man dressed like Dolly Parton." Luke said to us as he turned the photo around for us to see.

"You should hear him do "Jolene". Amazing."

"You think I look like a guy dressed as Dolly Parton?"

"No, I mean a little less with the makeup, but check out the chins." Mom said to him as she pointed from Luke's face to the picture in his hand.

"I'm gonna get your burgers." He said in a resigned tone as he stood up and walked to the kitchen area.

"He missed us." Mom said with a huge smile on her lips.

"Definitely." Rory and I agreed at the same time both we all started chatting about our trip together as we waited for our burgers.

* * *

Instead of staying the night at mom's house like Rory was going to, I opted for going straight back to my apartment near Yale so that I could see Colin. I had a smile on my lips as I used my key to open the front door of the apartment. As I opened the door I dropped my bags on the floor and used my feet to kick them into the apartment fully.

"Honey! I'm home!" I called out into the silent apartment, not caring that it was a major cliché. I listened for any movement but when there wasn't any I figured Colin mustn't have been home. I sighed in defeat because I had really being missing him that weekend. I walked further into the apartment towards the kitchen, mentally reminding myself to move the bags later. I skipped into the kitchen so that I could turn on the coffee maker I had set up on the bench when I noticed two wine glasses in the sink. I frowned as I cautiously walked over to the sink and pulled out one of the glasses by the stem. I had it up to the light and saw a smeared pink around the rim of the glass. I gasped at the sight of it and dropped it into the sink where it smashed into millions of light pieces of glass. I placed my hands on the edge of the bench and took a few deep breaths. There had to have been an explanation for the lipstick on the wine glass. Colin had friends that were girls; it could have been one of them. Amanda, Colin's step-mother. I took another deep breath to steady my racing heart before I slowly backed out of the room. I would deal with the glass later. I walked over to where my bags were still lying and picked them up. When I entered the bedroom I shared with Colin, I sighed at the sight of the messy bed. Groaning to myself, I grabbed the end of the sheet and pulled it half-heartedly on to the floor.

"Men." I sighed fondly out loud to myself as the sheet fell to the floor at my feet. "No man can work a washing machine." I said quietly to myself as I bent down to pick up the fallen sheet. I stood back up from my crouch with the sheet in my hands but paused when I noticed a piece of reed material hidden in the folds of the sheet. I dropped the fabric as if it was burning me and it fell unceremoniously to the floor again. I crouched down to the floor with a frown as I examined the sheet critically. I gasped in disbelief as I finally recognised the scrap of red lace entwined in the sheet. I stood up quickly and backed away from the bed that Colin and I usually shared. I closed my eyes when the familiar burning of tears filled my eyes. My back pressed up against the cool wall behind me and tilted my head back just as the tears broke through.

* * *

**3****RD**** Person POV:**

Lorelai and Rory at together at a table for two at the Rich Man's Shoe after seeing the apartment that Rory was going to be living in with Paris and Doyle. With a plate of fries in between them and a cup of coffee each the girls were talking about what an unsuitable place the apartment was for Rory to be living in.

"Oh, Rory." Lorelai sighed at her daughter across from her.

"Come on. It's not so bad." Rory tried to sooth her mother's worries half-heartedly because she knew that the apartment wasn't at all desirable.

"It's "Angela's Ashes"."

"It's basic."

"It's "Sanford and Son"." Lorelai insisted again desperately but the younger girl just shook her head in amusement at her mother's antics.

"Mom, the neighbourhood is safe. A ton of kids from school live there. And they have a safety van that goes to and from campus, so I don't have to walk home at night."

"That wasn't a Doo-Wop group, was it?" Lorelai asked her although she already knew the answer to her question.

"No." Rory answered her anyway as she bowed her head.

"Let's call daddy. Make him pay for an apartment with one lock." Lorelai suggested cheerily as she patted her daughters hand as it rested on the table.

"No. Look, this is the way it's supposed to be. I am in college. Don't you see? I'm supposed to live in a crappy apartment. I'm supposed to eat ramen noodles and mac and cheese for months. I've been living in a pool house with maids and fresh-cut flowers and mints on my pillow every night."

"You got to love my mother sometimes."

"This is good and right, and I'm happy, and I have roommates who are learning to kill people, so where is the bad? Now let's talk about you. How is the wedding planning going?" Rory asked her mother excitedly.

"Done." Lorelai replied simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What?" Rory asked in disbelief as she studied her mother's expression with lies.

"All done."

"What?"

"The dress, the cake, the place, the invitations. June 3rd, by the way."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I also bought your dress and shoes and a dress and shoes for Christa." Lorelai informed her shocked daughter.

"How did all this happen?" Rory asked Lorelai a little cautiously as she sipped her coffee.

"Well, I found this dress, which, at the time, seemed like the perfect dress, and from the dress, all the other details fell into place. By the end of the day I was done."

"That's great." Rory congratulated her mother enthusiastically with a bright smile on her lips.

"Is it?" Lorelai asked sceptically and the younger girl frowned in confusion.

"Isn't it?"

"I don't know. Yes, sure, I thought it was. I mean I thought it was a sign or something, you know, finding the dress. And then when, oohh when it started to snow, I was like, "somebody's telling me something"."

"So it would seem."

"But then I started thinking..." Lorelai started to say slowly.

"Uh-oh." Rory interrupted her with a cheeky grin.

"It was all too easy. Planning a wedding shouldn't be easy because marriage isn't easy." Lorelai finished her concerns, ignoring her daughter's interruption.

"How do you know? You've never been married."

"Exactly."

""Exactly" what?" Rory asked in confusion.

"I have never been married because it's not easy, and I usually freak out and screw everything up. I freaked out and screwed everything up with Max, remember?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But I haven't freaked out about Luke yet. Why haven't I freaked out about Luke yet? It's my pattern. It's what I do, and then I started freaking out about the fact that I hadn't freaked out."

"Oh, dear! You got caught in the circle of freak out." Rory exclaimed with a serious look on her face but she couldn't help the amusement that leaked into her voice.

"What if this dress is really a bad sign, not a good sign? What if the dress is telling me that it's so right, it's wrong?"

"Mom!"

"What if I'm about to bail out and I don't even know it?"

"You are driving yourself crazy."

"What if all the signs are saying things shouldn't be this easy, that I shouldn't get the guy I want? What if it's like that "Twilight Zone" where the woman on a horse is being chased by another woman on a horse who turns out is older her chasing younger her, trying to tell her that she should not run off with the guy she's going to run off with because it will be a terrible, terrible mistake." Lorelai ranted to her daughter as she waved her arms wildly in the air to illustrate her point.

"OK, King George, take a breath, eat a fry, and listen to me. The dress is a good sign. Everything fell into place because it should. It's all right. The dress is right, the date is right, Luke is right. And the snow. Remember the snow? The snow never lies." Rory tied to reassure her mother in a calm tone that one would normally use on an insane person.

"I guess." Lorelai answered her glumly as she frowned at her fries.

"Be happy. This is all good."

"Thanks. I'm gonna miss you when you're murdered and stuffed into a dumpster by the Doo-Wop group." The elder Gilmore girl said to Rory jokingly even though she was still a little hesitant about letting one of her only daughters live there.

"So tell me about my dress." Rory demanded, ignoring her mother's humour.

"Two words "hoop skirt"" the bride-to-be joked with a bright smile.

"Nice." Her daughter replied deadpan.

"In a lovely shade of tangerine."

"Excellent."

"And the minute I saw it, I thought, "this would totally be Rory if only it had a few more ruffles"."

"A fry with your evilness?" Rory asked as she offered the plate to her mother.

"Why, thank you." Lorelai replied as she picked up a fry from the plate in front of her. The older woman looked around the half empty bar in search of someone or something before turning back to Rory in confusion. "Where's Christa? I thought she was meeting us here?"

"I don't know." Rory replied with a frown of her own as she glanced around like her mother had moments before as if her twin would appear out of nowhere. "I haven't heard from her since yesterday."

* * *

**Christa POV:**

I refused to cry anymore. I had spent all the night before crying my eyes out on the couch because I refused to go back into the bedroom after what I found the day before. I was standing front of the door to Stephanie's apartment with a suitcase full of my things because I didn't want anyone else to know just yet. I hesitantly knocked on the wooden door and waited for my best friend to answer. I bit my lip nervously as I shifted from foot to foot. After what seemed like an hour to me, the door swung open to reveal Steph standing there with a bright smile. Her smile turned to a worried frown as she looked me over in one quick glance. I knew what she must have been seeing when she looked at me. My tear stained cheeks, blood shot red eyes and messy unkempt hair. I knew that I looked a mess.

"Christa?" she asked as if she wasn't sure the mess of a girl in front of her was really me. Tears sprang to my eyes again at the uncertainty in her voice but this time the tears weren't for the lost or betrayal, they were for me. I wasn't the type of girl who broke because of a guy. I wasn't the kind of girl that needed a relationship. The fact that my best friend felt the need to question my identity hit me harder than the fact that Colin had cheated on me. I didn't want to lose myself. I nodded my head jerkily at her question and she wordlessly opened her arms for me to fall into. I faintly heard the door close behind us as she led my over to the couch. She pulled me down with her as she wrapped her arms around me and let me cry myself out again. "Tell me what happened." She demanded sternly once I had finished crying and so I told her everything that had happened from the time I arrived at my apartment to the time I wound up at her door in tears. By the time I had finished telling her my story she was pacing the length of her apartment and biting her lower lips nervously. Sometime during my story she had given me a glass of vodka to calm my nerves but now the glass was empty. I watched steph pace through narrowed eyed because I had no idea what she was nervous about. If anything she should have been outraged. Maybe she was nervous I would hunt own the skank and murder her, because that was a definite possibility.

"Okay." She said finally as she stopped pacing and looked at me with wide, unblinking blue eyes.

"Okay, what?" I asked her in confusion.

"I have to tell you something." She told me and I waved a hand for her to go on with it as I leaned back on the couch I was sitting on. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Colin was in New York all weekend with his father."

"Colin hates his father." I replied in confusion and she nodded in agreement.

"That's true but he said that he hated being in your apartment alone even more." She said to me and I frowned in confusion at her words.

"But then whose panties did I burn early?" I asked her innocently and I noticed her eyes widen.

"You burnt my panties?!" she asked me in a yell and I gaped at her in shock.

"You had sex in my bed?!" I yelled back at her and she glanced at the ground in embarrassment so I took that as a 'yes'. "You have a spare key to the apartment. That key was for emergencies! Like if I was home alone and dying. Not no one was home and you were horny!" I screamed at her a stood from the couch and put my hands on my hips.

"I know! I'm so sorry." She apologised as she put her hands up in front of her in surrender.

"Wait a second. Who did you sleep with?" I asked her curiously as I tilted my head to the side and watched my best friend grin shyly.

"Finn." She answered me simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Finn? Now I'm extra glad I burnt the sheets." I mumbled to myself as I processed what she had said to me. "Why did you use my apartment?"

"Because I knew no one was there. Finn and I have been dating for like a month now but we didn't want anyone to know yet. We couldn't use my apartment because of Daphne and we could use his apartment because of Harrison."

"I can't believe I thought Colin was cheating on me." I said out loud as I laughed slightly at the misunderstanding. Steph giggled slightly as well and before I knew it we were both in hysterics. "Oh, crap!" I swore as I stopped laughing.

"What is it?" Steph asked me in concern and I turned to her with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"Colin's coming home tonight and none of my stuff is there!" I explained to her as I ran to the front door. I had to get home fast to put all my stuff back before he got home from New York.


	12. Chapter 12

**Just Like Gwen and Gavin:**

"Hello?" I said brightly into the phone as I placed it between my shoulder and my ear so I could talk while using my hands.

"Guess who's crazy." I heard my twin sister say from the other side of the phone and I frowned in confusion as I walked back over to the kitchen counter.

"Who?" I asked her as I started stirring the cake batter in the bowl in front of me.

"Me."

"You? Since when? I thought for sure I would be the one that went bonkers."

"Since I went all Frances Farmer in my psychologist's evaluation yesterday." She explained to me and I chuckled lightly as I shook my head at her. I stuck my pinkie finger in the mixture before licking it to see if it tasted alright. I smiled happily at the taste of the vanilla cake batter as I continued stirring.

"Alright, I'm hooked. Should I get popcorn, or is it a shorter story than that?" I asked her jokingly as I put the bowl down and moved over to the cabinet where I kept the cake pans.

"I went home from class to get ready for the appointment, and Logan was there."

"At your apartment?" I questioned her as I froze at the sound of my best friends and Rory's ex-boyfriends name.

"In the hallway. And, of course, I couldn't get my door open fast enough, so he started talking."

"What did he say?"

"He said he loved me." She answered me glumly and I dropped the pan I was holding on the floor making it clung loudly.

"No way." I exclaimed in shock as I bent down to get the pan.

"What was that noise?" Rory asked me in confusion and I waved a hand that she couldn't see dismissively.

"Forget that. He said he loved you?" I asked again for clarification as I walked over to the bench with my cake tin.

"And it completely threw me. And I got out of there as fast as I could. But then I got to 's office, and he started peppering me with all these questions, and I just got more and more upset. Then I exploded all over the place. I went through two boxes of Kleenex, I started hyperventilating, and I had to breathe into a paper bag."

"Do you believe him?" I asked her cautiously.

"Believe who?"

"Logan. Do you believe he loves you?"

"I don't know. I guess I can figure that out next week in therapy." Rory said with a sigh and I frowned in confusion as I leaned my hip on the counter.

"What?"

"After my little meltdown, thinks I should come see him once a week for the next two months."

"You're kidding." I stated with a chuckle as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"There are no jokes in the mental-health field, only hand puppets, inkblots, and inflatable anger bats."

"I'm so sorry you're a nut. I thought for sure it would be me needing therapy. Or maybe mom. I'm sure we will by the time Emily's croaks it. Oh, who am I kidding? The old bat is never going to die. She's going to outlive us all and then dance on our graves. Maybe not yours but definitely mine and moms." I pondered out loud as I shook my head at my sister's misfortune.

"That's OK. I'm sure has a nice padded room for me. We can share when you get there."

"Well don't let them put you on any of those pills. Tom Cruise will be very upset." I teased her lightly as I turned back to my cake batter.

"Alright. I should go. I have a massive amount of reading to do. I just wanted to call and say "hi"."

"OK. Remember. Blame it all on Grandma." I told her in mock-sternness before I let out a chuckle.

"Will do." She agreed with a chuckle of her own before hanging up the phone and I placed it down on the other side of the bench. I chuckled to myself as I pulled the cake batter closer to the tin and let the creamy mixture run from the bowl to the pan. I smiled as I heard the front door to the apartment open and then the unmistakable sound of footsteps. I looked open from the cake pan to see my boyfriend walking into the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"Hello, handsome." I greeted him as he came over to stand behind me. He wrapped his arms around my thin waist and leaned his chin on my shoulder to watch me work.

"Greetings, gorgeous." He replied back to me as he pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek and then another to the base of my neck. "Are you making me cake?"

"I'm making a cake." I corrected him with a smile and he groaned into the back of my shoulder blade.

"Why are you teasing me with your delicious cake?" he wondered out loud jokingly and I chuckled lightly. I turned around in his arms as I slipped my arms to wrap around his neck.

"You think that that's teasing?" I asked him huskily in a whisper as I stood up on my tip toes to playfully nibble on his earlobe. His hands moved from my waist down to my hips before he lifted me onto the counter top behind me. I giggled as his hands slid down my thighs and kiss Colin passionately on the lips until we both pulled away breathing hard. I reached blinding behind me to the cake mixture bowl and dipped a finger in the vanilla batter. I pressed another kiss to his lips before replacing my lips with my finger. He wrapped his lips around my cake covered finger as I giggled coyly. I wrapped my legs around his waist as I moved closer to the edge of the counter top, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

"You are wearing to much clothing." He told me simply as his skilful hands reached the edge of my t-shirt. I chuckled softly as he pulled the material over my head and chucked it somewhere behind us. He reached behind me to the bench and came back with a finger covered in cake batter. I smirked at him slyly as he slowly ran the same finger down my throat all the way down the top of my black lace bra. He smirked at me as he leaned down to my throat and his tongue skilfully followed the same trail that his finger had done previously. I gasped out loud in pleasure as his mouth ran over my skin before making its way back up to my mouth.

"I'm going to have to make more cake." I said with a moan as Colin reached back over for the cake batter.

"Next time make it chocolate." He responded to my statement and I laughed as he dangled a cake mixture covered finger over my lips playfully.

* * *

I was sitting on the couch in the living room sketching when I heard a knock at the front door to the apartment. I frowned in frustration because I was nearly finished shading a certain area when the knocking came again. I sighed as I threw the sketch pad and pencil to the side of the couch before standing up. I walked over to the door and opened it only to find my best friend, Logan Huntzberger standing on the other side.

"What are you doing here? Are you here to tell me you love me?" I asked him teasingly as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned on the door frame. His cocky smirk that he always wore immediately turned into a frown when he heard my words. I laughed at his foregone expression before standing up straighter and gesturing for him to follow me into the apartment.

"I need to talk to you." He stated as he followed me into the living room and I glanced at him over my shoulder with an eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm not talking to you about Rory." I reminded him calmly as I sat down on the couch and he sat on the armchair across from me.

"I just need a minute." He practically begged me and I rolled my eyes at him as I sighed in defeat.

"I can't fathom what a minute of my time is gonna do for you."

"Just a minute, please, then I will never bring it up again." He swore to me with a serious expression.

"Fine but in this conversation you're not my best friend. You are only Rory's ex. Got it?" I asked him harshly as I pointed at him and he nodded jerkily at me. I gave him a nod of my head as I got more comfortable on the couch. "OK. Go."

"Look, I know I'm not your favourite person in the world for Rory." He started to say to me.

"No, you're definitely low on the list, right above the guy who thought up smallpox blankets." I interrupted him teasingly with a smirk.

"I miss her, OK? I made a mistake and I'm trying to rectify it, but nothing is working. She won't talk to me." He continued with his spiel while I listened to him.

"Can you blame her?"

"No. I'm doing everything I can. Flowers, gifts."

"All your old standbys, huh?" I commented spitefully and he gave me a look before continuing.

"Books, coffee cart. I'm trying to show her how I feel."

"And it sounds like she's trying to show you how she feels."

"Look, I figured this was a suicide mission, OK? It's probably something you and Rory will laugh about for years to come. But I'm not giving up until I exhaust all my options, and asking for your help is one of them. I'm even going to go and talk to your mother."

"Really?" I asked him with a laugh as I shook my head wishing that I could video tape that meeting.

"Yes." Logan said to me with a nod of his head so I sighed in defeat. "I'm going for broke here."

"Well...you got moxie, my friend, I'll give you that." I praised him with a slight smile. "Tell you what. I'll write Rory a letter but it's her choice what to do with it, okay?"

"That's perfect!" he exclaimed with a genuine smile on his handsome face and I had no choice but to smile back at him as I shook my head. I reached over to grab my notepad and pen before waving dismissively for Logan to give me some privacy. He raised his hands in surrender before standing up and moving into the kitchen while I wrote to my twin sister.

* * *

_Dear Rory,_

_I feel like I'm writing a freaking college recommendation for that boy! _

_When he showed up at my apartment asking for advice on how to win you back I was so tempted to tell him to pull a John Cusack in Say Anything and stand outside your apartment building with a boom box. But then I thought that it might be hard to find a boom box now days and that the 'Doo Woop group' out the front of your apartment building might end up killing him and leaving pieces of his body all over Connecticut. He is far too pretty to be left at the mercy of the Doo Woop group. By the way, that is an awesome gang name and we should all get matching tattoos. _

_Logan told me he was going over to the Dragonfly to talk to mom about you as well. How I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Mom is going to eat him alive. Maybe I can call Kirk and get him to follow mom around with a video camera so that we can catch it on tape!_

_In the end you're going to do whatever it is that you want, Rory. I will love and support you no matter what. _

_Love you, twin!_

_Christa. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, Guys!**

**This is a really short chapter so I'm sorry. **

- **BehindGrayEyes xx**

* * *

**Friday Night's Alright For Fighting:**

I was woken up from a dead sleep by the sound of my cell phone ringing incessantly from the bedside table. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I wished that the phone would blow up so that I could continue sleeping without the interruption. I felt Colin's arm around my waist fitting comfortably like it was meant to be there and I smiled slightly as the phone stopped ringing. I snuggled down deeper into the comforter as Colin shifted slightly behind me. The phone started ringing loudly again and I groaned in annoyance as I opened my eyes reluctantly to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. **5.30am** it read and I swore under my breath as I reached over to grab the phone off the desk.

"Answer the phone, babe." Colin demanded sleepily as he let go of my waist and I rolled my eyes at him but bit back a sarcastic comment. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed the phone as I rolled my eyes tiredly. I looked at the caller ID and my eyes widened when I saw that it was my mom ringing my. Panic started to settle in my stomach because I knew that my mom wouldn't be at 5.30 in the morning without a very good reason.

"Mom?" I asked her as I put the phone to my ear and even I could hear the fear in my tired voice as I waited for response. I felt the bed shift and I glanced behind me to see that Colin was more awake now and looking at me in concern.

"Luke has a daughter." I heard my mother say and my head snapped back around away from Colin as my mouth opened and then closed repeatedly.

"It's really early in the morning and I don't think I heard you right. Can you run that by me again?" I asked her dumbly as I ran a hand threw my messy bed hair.

"He has a twelve-year-old daughter. I met her yesterday, well I didn't formally meet her, but I saw and I talked to her."

"What?!"

"He has a daughter with some woman. We didn't get to that, the big who, but he's known for two months."

"Two months?" I repeated after her for confirmation as I crossed my legs under me and got comfortable on the bed.

"Someone better have two months to live because that's the only reasonable excuse for waking us up at 5.30 in the goddamn morning." Colin grumbled from besides me as he lay back down on his pillow and covered his face with his hands. I blindly slapped his chest with my hand as I smirked at his comment.

"A daughter." Mom said sadly and I sighed as I nodded glumly even though she couldn't see me.

"A daughter." I parroted back to her and I noticed Colin uncovered his face to look at me in confusion and interest.

"What does this say about our relationship? You're some relationship expert. Help me, Oprah!" mom begged me and I chuckled lightly as I rolled my eyes at her. I was most definitely not a relationship expert but I would do anything to help my mother deal with the new development. "He waited two months to tell me."

"Did he say why he waited?" I asked her curiously as ignored Colin's pleading look for me to tell him what was going on.

"Yes, he said he was confused, and I get that. I mean, I'm confused, but what does it mean that he kept a secret like this? What does it say about him? What does it say about me? Doesn't he trust me? Why doesn't he trust me?" mom asked me in rapid secession and I blinked once as I tried to keep up with her ranting. Luckily, I had grown up around her and could navigate the complex speech patterns of Lorelai Gilmore.

"He trusts you, Mom. He's a guy. Sometimes guys are really dumb." I concluded simply with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Hey!" Colin protested at my insult and I smirked at him as I whacked him with a pillow.

"She's cute." Mom said softly and I smiled a little at the image my mind had conjured of Luke's daughter.

"She is?" I asked her for confirmation because she sounded a little more upbeat and I wanted to keep her on the right track.

"Yeah, she seems smart like you and Rory. What is it with the next generation? You're all smarter than the rest of us."

"Not necessarily." I said with a laugh as smiled at how she was back to her normal joking self.

"I'm freaking out." She admitted and I nodded in understanding.

"I don't blame you."

"What else is he hiding? I mean, how can you really know that you know somebody?"

"I don't think you can. Every relationship is just a big leap of faith." I told him as I smiled lovingly down at my boyfriend who was listening to my half of the conversation intently and he smiled back up at me so I pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You didn't ask about the mother?" I asked her curiously and Colin frowned in confusion because he still had no idea what was going on.

"I just kinda ran off. I couldn't wrap my mind around it."

"Well, Luke must be freaked out double what you're freaked out, you know? ? He must've put his baseball cap on backwards. I'm sure he panicked. I'm sure his not telling you says nothing about your relationship. Maybe this is a cheesy perspective to offer you, but Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale went through the same sort of situation. He found out he had a kid that he didn't know about, but they made it work...as far as I know." I told her in an upbeat voice and Colin silently chucked at my analogy.

"Meaning?"

"If they can, you can." I answered her with another shrug that she couldn't see.

"Really?"

"They're people. You're people. I mean, you don't sing and neither does Luke, but really, neither do Gwen or Gavin, but they're still together...I think. I haven't read anything to the contrary."

"I guess."

"You and Luke just need to talk some more."

"Yeah. Maybe I'll tell Luke about Gwen and Gavin. I mean, if there's any people whose lives Luke would relate to, it's Gwen and Gavin." Mom said with a hint of sarcasm and I smiled slightly at her as I shook my head.

"Sorry, there isn't a handbook for this." I replied to her as Colin started to sit up in bed apparently given up on going back to sleep. "Hey! Where are you going?" I called out to Colin as he stood and headed for the door to our bedroom.

"Pancakes!" was his answer as he walked out of the room in nothing but his boxer and I grinned at the doorway he had just left through.

"Oh, yay! I love you!" I cheered happily as I settled back on the bed with a smile.

"Colin's making you pancakes?" mom asked me for confirmation and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"My boyfriend loves me soooo much." I exclaimed with a girly giggle at the end and mom laughed at my happiness.

"What are you two doing this weekend?"

"I have no idea. But first I'm eating pancakes." I told her giddily as I threw my legs over the edge of the bed.

"Ha. Nice. I have to go." Mom said with a sad sigh and I fake pouted even though she couldn't see me.

"Alright, I'll talk you later." I told her before I hung up the cell phone and placed it on the bedside table again. I smiled to myself when I smelled the delicious smell of pancakes filled the apartment and I slipped out of bed to make my way to the kitchen. "Wow." I whispered to myself as I walked into the kitchen and saw my boyfriend standing over the stove in his boxers while cooking pancakes.

"Hey! You hungry?" he asked me with a smirk when he caught me checking him out so I smiled brightly at him as skipped further into the kitchen.

"Starving." I replied huskily as leaned on the counter across from him and bit my lower lip seductively.

"I meant for pancakes." He said to me with a chuckle and I laughed as I stood back up before walking around the counter to wrap my arms around his waist as he cooked.

"That too." I whispered as I pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder before leaning back against the counter with my arms crossed to watch him flipping the pancakes. He smirked to himself as he looked at me from the corner of his eye and I narrowed my eyes at him in mock suspicion. "You don't have any kids do you?"

* * *

"Guess what I have in my hand!" Colin ordered me playfully as he walked back into the apartment from getting the mail from downstairs. I smiled warmly as I put down my sketch pad and turned in my seat to look at him as he walked over to me with a handful of envelopes.

"What do you have?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow as I tucked my legs underneath me.

"Yale University." He stated with a smile as he threw a thick yellow envelope on the coffee table in front of me. "Harvard University." He continued as he threw a white envelope down on top of the other one. "Stanford University." He added with a grin as another white envelope to the pile and I grasped my hands together as a proud smile broke out across my face. "Columbia University and University of Chicago." He finished as he threw the remaining two envelopes on to the top of the pile on the coffee table.

"Eeeep." I squealed excitedly as jumped up from the couch to throw myself in my boyfriend's arms. He laughed wholeheartedly as he wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me around as I giggled. Colin set me back down on the ground and I clapped my hands together as I spun around to look at the envelopes on the table. "Open them!" I demanded as I sat back down on the couch with my legs crossed beneath me.

"God, you're bossy." He said to me playfully with a smirk as he sat down next to me on the couch and I placed my chin on his shoulder as he reached for the first envelope.

"University of Chicago…"I whispered as Colin ripped on the white envelope nervously. I peeked over his shoulder to see the word, 'ACCEPTED' written at the top of the page. Colin chuckled lightly as he read over the acceptance letter in his hand and I squeezed his shoulder supportively. He reached for the next envelope that said Columbia University and slid it open.

"I got in." he whispered in awe as he read the letter and I chuckled lightly as I bit my lip.

"Of course you did, baby." I whispered back to him as I pressed a kiss to his cheek. He sent me a soft smile before he reached for the next envelope.

"Stanford." Colin told me as he opened the white envelope in his hand and he smiled as he read the paper before turning to face me. "How do you feel about California, babe?"

"I look damn good in a bikini." I told him with a smirk as he nodded in thoughtful agreement.

"That's true. Harvard University…" he said with a sigh as he opened up the next envelope and wrapped an arm around his bicep. I smiled as I ready the word 'ACCEPTED' on the top the letter and Colin let out a unbelieving laugh as he covered his mouth with a hand.

"I'm proud of you." I whispered to him as I watched him stare at the piece of paper in front of him and he let his hand fall from his mouth as he smiled at me warmly. He leaned forward towards me and I smiled as I met him halfway to press our lips together lovingly.

"I love you." Colin whispered to me as he pulled away a few inches and I giggled as I looked down slightly.

"I love you too." I replied to him before kissing him softly again.

"Okay, babe. This is the big one." He reminded me as we both looked at the one remaining yellow envelope that was laying on the table.

"Harvard is close. So is Columbia." I told me gently without looking away from the letter and he nodded his head absently. "Babe, seriously." I said as I tugged gently on his arm to draw his attention and he turned his head to look at me with pensive expression. I knew that he was worried about how we would manage as a couple with him going to Grad-School so far away while I finished my senior year at Yale. "New York is close, okay? We will be fine."

"I know." He said to me with a smile as he kissed me quickly before looking at the envelope again. He heaved out a sigh as he reached for the paper and I frowned when he couldn't see me anymore. He looked at me briefly and I quirked a quick smile before he slid open the envelope to read the material.

"So…?" I asked impatiently when he didn't say anything for a minute and just stared at the paper in his hand. Colin ignored me as he stood up from the couch and started pacing the length of our living room without looking away from the letter in his hand. I frowned in concern as I stood up from the couch as I watched him. "Colin?" I asked him as I walked over to him but he just continued to pace the room. I pursed my lips at him before I walked over to him and snatched the paper out of his hands so that I could read it for myself. I noticed Colin stop walking as he watched me read the paper silently and I smiled broke out across my face as I read the word, 'ACCEPTED' on the page. "You got in." I stated in a whisper as I slowly raised my head to look at him and he nodded at me as a small smile pulled at his lips.

"I got in, Teek." He whispered back at me and I shook my head in happiness as I ran across the room to his waiting arms. We both laughed as he spun me around in a circle before he kissed me passionately.


End file.
